


"Cautious"

by WritingWithADinosaur



Series: "Cautious" [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:16:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22560856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingWithADinosaur/pseuds/WritingWithADinosaur
Summary: Being saved by Bruce Banner made your familial type of relationship with him strong, But how will you do with adjusting to life in the tower with the others and your reawakened powers?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Reader, James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Series: "Cautious" [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623274
Kudos: 15





	1. "Cautious" -Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Key: Y/N = Your Name, L/N = Your Last Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color
> 
> Warnings: Cursing (I naturally curse a lot and it comes out in my writing sometimes. Sorry.), Mentions of Violence/Torture.

You remember flying to the big city. You were so happy and carefree back then. You were about to start another year at college. You were going to get your degree and be someone in this world. You knew you had inhuman abilities, but they never really popped up or anything. The last time you had an incident was when you were 8. So you were sure it was a one time thing and must have grown out of it. This ideal world came crashing down pretty fast. 

A few months into the semester, you were at a seminar that was about major scientific developments and how they could impact society in a few years. As you were leaving, a couple of men came up to you.

“(Y/N) (L/N)?”

“Yes? Is there something I could help you with, gentlemen?” And with that, you were knocked out.

When you woke up, you were on an examination table in some sort of lab facility. Your arms and legs bound. There was a weird symbol on the door that looked eerily familiar. You tried to rack your brain for some sort of clue as to what the symbol meant or where you’d seen it before, but your brain was still fuzzy from waking up. Your thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and one of the men that stopped you in the street stood before you.

“ (Y/N) (L/N) we know you have a certain set of skills that are… _supernatural_. We are here to see if we can harness them and use them, or you, for the greater good. We are starting immediately.”

“Wait! Do I get a say in this? Do I get to know more of what the fuck you’re even talking about? I haven’t had any experience with my abilities since I was 8 years old. I’m pretty sure I just grew out of it.” You plead.

“I’m afraid we cannot run the risk of not knowing for sure. We have been watching you for quite some time now. You still exhibit the presence of your powers. You may not have noticed, but we here at Hydra have.”

That’s when it hit you. The symbol. Hydra. You were going to be one of their experiments that you’ve read about. All of the air was taken out of your body as you began to panic. Attempting to plead more with the man, he ignored you and stuck a mask on your face.

It must have had some sort of relaxant in it because you felt yourself become very woozy and your vision fluttered in and out. Whenever you did wake up, it was always when they were doing painful or invasive tests. If it ever got too painful, your body knew to shut off and you fell back under the sheet of darkness.

You couldn’t tell how long you were in this room or in your cell. You tried to keep count of the sun rises and sunsets, but everything blurred together. All you could tell was that it was for at least a few weeks.

~~~~~~~~

One day, the man in the lab coat came in with his entourage of assistants. They were going to try yet another method of “awakening” your powers. They were determined to figure out exactly how you work and use you as their advantage.

A few days into the torture, you decided to not speak. Speaking would give them what they want - _answers_. You said nothing to anyone, you just listened and tried your hardest to push through whatever hell they put you in. This proved to be beneficial in delaying their progress.

Also during this newfound silent treatment, you felt an old flame come back deep inside of you. The last time you felt this, you were 8 years old. The only way you could describe your abilities to someone would be the Force from Star Wars, but not really. Like, you could sense danger or good or evil, and move shit with your mind. Another interesting power you had was a type of sense. People had auras around them. Auras weren’t very clear yet because it was all still fresh and newer to you.

But you were weak from not using your abilities for years and because of all of the torture you’ve been put through. If detecting auras was difficult, moving things was going to be ten times harder.

The men began to stick monitors on you, you could see the aura of the man in the lab coat. It was faint, but it was a slowly growing red color. You focused as hard as you could on the scalpel that was on the table next to you. You wanted it to go into the man’s arm to disable him. Making him stop his bulllshit once and for all was a pleasant thought, but the thought of taking someone’s life in your own hands was too disturbing to you. You were not like them. The scalpel began to shake and lift up a bit, until the man caught you and slapped you to knock your train of thought. It worked.

He grabbed your face and made you look at him.

“Well well, our little mouse has finally shown us some of what she can do. Let’s see if we can get any more out of her.” He gave an ominous smile to his coworkers as they sent electric shocks through you.

Your body was in pain and you lost control of it. Your thoughts were with you though. Thinking of what else was in the room, you remembered a computer. You tried with everything you could to use your abilities to type an SOS to the first person you thought of. Well, people. It was a long shot, but you thought of the Avengers. The crime fighting group that always hunted down Hydra scum. Maybe they would take this seriously and help you.

You weren’t moving anymore. The shocks had stopped. The group of Hydra men looked to the computer in the corner. It had apparently made a noise to signify that a message was sent. They attempted to find the message and delay it, but they couldn’t.

The red aura-ed man walked up to you and hit you for the second time today. You could tell that he was ordering you to say something but you were so exhausted and in immense pain. You felt yourself fading. He threw something on the floor and stormed out. Everything went dark.

~~~~~~~~

You awoke to the sounds of gunfire and screaming. Terrified, you moved your arms and legs to tried to get out of the restraints, but nothing worked. Focusing all of your thoughts on one restraint, you were able to get your right foot unattached. A mini jolt of hope went through you, but then turned sour. You were so tired for focusing so hard on that one restraint. Why hadn’t you focused on one of your hands? There was no way you could muster the energy to do another restraint, let alone 3 more. You were stuck.

The sounds of violence were getting quieter. Your prayed that someone would help you. Was this real or are you in another one of your nightmares? You began to cry, feeling more and more like a lost cause. Deciding to cling on to some shred of hope, you scream for help. Your voice sounded foreign. It had been so long since you actually let anything vocally come out. A soft “please…” is the last thing you whimper out.

You are deep in your thoughts, thinking about how long it would take you to get your energy back up to try to get yourself free. But what about food or water? What about shelter? Where are you in the world? You could be anywhere.

A familiar noise brings you out of your thoughts. The door. The door was opening. Your head turns to face it and you see a man in a purple button-down and glasses come in. He wasn’t wearing any Hydra gear, and he had an aura around him. You hadn’t said a word to him and he had a blue aura. That had to be a good sign. You began to sob more.

“Please, sir, help me. Please.”

The man rushed over and figured out how to unlock the cuffs. While doing so, you heard him talk into some sort of comm.

“Guys, I need backup. I found someone. … No, not a threat. A prisoner. … Alright, nevermind. Focus on taking the last section out, I’m getting her to the jet. She needs help, fast.” He then turned his attention back to you. “My name is Bruce Banner. I’m with the Avengers. We are here to help you. What’s your name?”

“(Y/N) (L/N).”

“Can you walk?” Bruce asked.

“I think so. I can’t put pressure on my right foot though.” He stepped beside you and put your arm over his shoulder to act as a human crutch.

You were lucky they let you walk around in a cell when the bastards weren’t doing their “experiments” or else you were sure you’d be immobile. Too bad the red aura-ed man got more mad than usual and fucked up your ankle.

Bruce directed you down various hallways until you were at the base of a huge jet. He helped you up the ramp and sat you down. He found a spare water bottle and the first aid kit. He gently lifted your ankle and wrapped it in an ace bandage.

“You should buckle up. Knowing the rest of them, it shouldn’t be much longer until we head out. Keep drinking water too. I’m going to see if there is anything for you to eat.” He knelt down and held your shaking hand. “You’re safe now. None of us are going to harm you. Sit tight. We’ll be out of this hellhole soon.”

After he helped you, you buckled up and drank some more water. Your head hit the headrest and you tried to catch your breath. Your message went through. You are actually saved.

As Bruce predicted, the rest of the team was heard running towards the jet a minute later. Everyone went to their place as they prepared for take off. It was all systematic and without any hesitation. The only thing that was new to them was you.

You were overwhelmed and scared. You knew the Avengers were good, but you couldn’t see any of their auras and you had never been in any situation with them. One of them tried to talk to you, asking what your name was, why you were there, what Hydra wanted from you, etc.

You felt your chest constrict and you felt lightheaded. Leaning forward, you put your head between your knees to get blood flowing more, slightly rocked back and forth, and tried to control your breathing. A man with a metal arm could see your discomfort and told everyone to stop. Bruce threw him a look that said thank you. As soon as it was safe to move, Bruce knelt in front of you and put a comforting hand on your knee.

“(Y/N), breathe. Try to drink some more water. I know this is all new, but you are safe.” You knew you were in better hands, but you needed to be alone. There were so many voices and beeps and talk about what just happened. Bruce could see your eyes shooting to the other Avengers and he figured out what you needed.

“Do you need a quiet place?” You nodded your head, too scared to really talk to anyone else. “Alright, I have someplace for you. Let’s go.”

He undid your seatbelt, held his hand out, and helped you to a small storage room. This was good. You needed to be alone. You chose a spot to sit and had Bruce help you down. You dropped your water bottle and it rolled a few feet away. Bruce went to go grab it but you decided to try out your abilities again. For some reason, it was much easier to make your bottle come back to your hand as opposed to the restraints earlier.

Bruce gave a somewhat amazed look before saying, “I’m going to go check up on the others. Come get me if you need me. Okay (Y/N)?” You nodded your head.

As he begins to stand up, you grab his hand and say thank you. He nods and walks out. You breathe in deeply and slowly let it out, already feeling a bit better. You began to think things through.

So far, you could only talk to one person, Bruce. Until you could understand the others, see some sign of an aura, or actually be able to talk to them, it’s just going to be better to stay quiet. You don’t want to fuck anything up. Just talk to Bruce and hope for the best.


	2. "Cautious" - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky is now pretty much rehabilitated and able to be part of the group. He has nightmares sometimes, but not nearly as much as he used to. Reader was taken by Hydra and made the subject of experiments due to her having powers (something similar to the force, but not the force). The team rescues her after a mission and takes her in. She struggles with control sometimes, is very skittish sometimes, and hasn’t talked to anyone since arriving at the tower. She only talks to Bruce Banner. Soon enough, Bucky takes an interest in her. Let’s see how this unfurls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Key: Y/N = Your Name, L/N = Your Last Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color
> 
> Warnings: Cursing, Violence
> 
> Author’s Note: Welcome to part 2! I know this may not please everyone, but I’m writing this for myself. I hope people will enjoy this fanfic, but I know that you can’t please everyone.
> 
> And as always, feedback is greatly appreciated!
> 
> <3
> 
> \- DreaSaurusREX

“Alright, Banner, update us on the girl.” Tony said over his shoulder as he piloted the jet. Everyone listened up as Bruce cleared his throat a bit.

“Well, her name is (Y/N) (L/N). She was kidnapped by Hydra, and I think I just found out why: _She has powers_. They were most likely trying to figure out how to use her as a weapon for them.”

“How do you know this? What kind of powers does she have?” Natasha asked.

“Well, she told me her name. And I just saw her make a water bottle fly into her hand from about 4 feet away. She may have more abilities, but that’s all I know so far. Well, that and she is very uneasy around people. Groups mostly. She knows who the Avengers are and that we are the good guys, but as you all saw earlier, she is still very wary of us. She seems to be okay with me so far, but I would advise everyone to be cautious and consider what she’s been through. We all know how messed up Hydra can be, and she has been missing for 2 months. That’s a lot of damage done to that girl.”

Everyone went silent for a minute, taking in all the new info.

“We’re taking her in right? There’s no way she can be thrown back into her old life. Especially if she has special abilities that were being watched by Hydra. That leaves a huge target on her back.” Bucky spoke up. Some of the group is a bit surprised. Yes Bucky has made a great recovery, but he has never really shown this much interest in someone new.

“I thought the same. We will be taking her back to the tower with us. I need to do some diagnostics. I will also personally watch over her. Like I said before, she has been okay with me.” Bruce answers. Bucky nods his head in acceptance.

~~~~~~~~

You felt the ship jerk a bit. A few seconds afterwards, the door opened and Steve Rogers came in. You felt a bit tensed and pushed yourself back a bit. You hit the wall, nowhere else to run. Steve kept his distance and knelt down so he could make eye contact, or at least try to.

“Hey there. My name is Steve Rogers. Bruce sent me in here because he had to help Tony with landing preparations. You need to get back to a seat with a belt. We don’t want you getting more injured.”

You looked at him carefully. He was a good guy, and a hint of an aura was visible, not as much or as bright as Bruce’s but still good. He looked like a protective older brother. You finally nodded to him and then pointed to your wrapped ankle. He understood that you needed help getting up and walking. He tried to pick you up which caused you freaked out a bit, motioning for him to stop. Steve moved his hands away and apologized.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Let’s try this a different way, okay? I’m going to squat next to you, then put your arm around my shoulder and lean on me.” You nodded. It was a bit difficult since he was taller than you, but it wasn’t a huge difference since you were naturally slightly taller than average, but it was enough to make a difference.

He helped you through the door and suddenly all eyes were on you. It’s going to be like this for awhile, you came into their world. Being in the same room with them was already getting a bit easier after having a moment to calm down and collect yourself. But you still didn’t feel comfortable talking.

Looking around the cabin, the seat you were in earlier was open. Thankfully it wasn’t directly next to anyone.

“There we go. Do you need anything else?” You shake your head no. “Okiedokie. We should be landing soon.”

You quickly remember a bit of sign language from your last semester of college. There is a simple sign for “thank you” where you move a flat hand in an outward arc from your chin. You grab a hold of the Steve’s sleeve and sign “thank you.” He looks at you in a bit of confusion.

“She said ‘thank you.’ Its sign language.” Bucky chimed in. “I learned a bit here and there in the past.”

“Oh, thanks. You’re welcome, Miss.” Steve said in with that Captain America smile before heading to his seat and buckling up.

Watching him as he made his way to his seat, you saw his aura get a bit brighter and more blue. Good sign. Still not really ready to talk to anyone other than Bruce though. You felt that he would understand you better than others. You knew he was a scientist, and he was the one who saved you.

You began to think about the water bottle, you were getting thirsty again. You suddenly felt a pull and realized that you were bringing the water bottle to you. It was about 10 feet away, near the man with the metal arm, Bucky. You tried to stop it, but it lifted up and began quickly coming towards you.

Apparently the rest of the team saw this whole thing unfurl. You held your hand out to grab it as it came closer. Along the way, it hit Bucky’s leg lightly. After you caught the water bottle, you quickly signed “I’m sorry” hoping he would forgive you.

“It’s alright, doll. It was an accident. No harm done. Plus, that was pretty amazing, seeing you do that.” His voice was very nice to your ears. And he was pretty attractive. You signed “thank you” to him and he just gave a small smile and nod in return.

Before you could think anymore about how weirdly good looking he was, you felt the jet lower in altitude. You never liked take offs or landings. You grabbed the armrest and closed your eyes. Thankfully your breathing didn’t get crazy again. Deep slow breaths. The wheels hit the ground and everyone moved except you. You had no idea what to do from here, until Bruce came over.

“(Y/N), you’re going to come with me and Tony to the medical room so we can do some basic scans and make sure nothing has major damage, okay?”

You nod in agreement. Bruce leans down to pick you up and you don’t fuss. You have this bond with him. It was like a father-daughter relationship, and he felt it too. He was protective and caring towards you.

~~~~~~~~

You were taken to a medical looking room. They had to take samples to find out if there was anything wrong beyond what they could see. You knew that Bruce and Tony would be careful and safe, and you trusted Bruce, but you couldn’t help flinch away from Tony when he came close. After a few tries at just getting close to your arm with an IV, Tony gets a bit pissed.

“Listen, kid. Banner and I are trying to help you. I need you to let me get close to your arm so we can move on. Now please stop moving.”

You could hear that he was annoyed, and you tried your hardest not to panic a bit. You already were uneasy around needles. This is a combination of needles and an unfamiliar person holding said needle. Bruce saw your discomfort and put a hand on your shoulder.

“(Y/N), he’s right. We need to get meds in your veins. You have gone through hell and back. The medicine we are administering is designed to speed up the healing process. But you need to let Tony get your arm prepped and this IV in your arm. Tony isn’t going to fuck up. I trust him.”

Hearing that made you feel somewhat calmer. You liked knowing what the hell was going on, and if Bruce trusted Tony as much as he says, you could too. You nodded to Bruce. He began to walk away, but you grabbed his hand. He looked back at you and saw you call out for help through your eyes. You needed someone to grab onto while Tony inserted the needle. “It’s alright. Squeeze as hard as you need. It’ll only be a few seconds.” You nodded and braced yourself.

After the IV was in and the meds began to flow, Bruce and Tony had to ask you a few questions. You were okay talking to Bruce, but you weren’t sure about Tony. He seemed judgemental, full of himself, and he was already annoyed at you from earlier. Feeling the questions coming soon, you got nervous.

“(Y/N), We need to ask some questions. You need to answer these as best you can. Okay?” Tony asked. There was a tone of annoyance in his voice. He probably had other things to do and didn’t want to waste time on you. When you didn’t answer, Bruce looked up from his screen and saw you. Head down, shaking a bit, playing with your hands.

“Hey Tony, why don’t you go work on something back in the lab? I can ask (Y/N) questions.” Tony looks with a confused look. They both walk towards the door. Bruce whispers “She isn’t comfortable around a lot of us yet. I can get to her. I’m the only one who has talked to her so far. If I need you, I’ll let you know.”

“Alright, if you say so. Update me whenever you can.” And with that, Tony was off to his lab to do more sciencing. Bruce came back and sat on a stool in front of you, data pad in hand.

“Thank you.” Your voice weaker than you thought it’d be, but you were loud enough for him to hear. 

“Anything I can do to help. Now, let’s get these questions out of the way so you can get some rest.”

~~~~~~~~

Bruce finishes with your exam and heads out to look at the samples he took. You stay in the medical room to rest. After the results came back, the team was called for an update meeting.

“So (Y/N) is a young girl who was abducted from Chicago because she has powers. She hadn’t used her powers since she was 8 years old, but then had them resurface after the torture Hydra put her through. From what she told me, she has two major abilities. We saw her example of telekinesis on the jet ride home. She also informed me that she sees auras around people. Different colors mean different things. Red means bad, blue means good. She is able to control the visibility of these auras after one has been clearly given to someone. The only one of us that has a clear aura is me. Steve has a small hint of blue around him, no surprise there though.”

“How is she though?” Bucky questioned. He was tense, worried. Again, everyone was a bit shocked at his interest in you, but they went on.

“Currently stable. A fractured ankle and general weakness from not eating or drinking much. But she will recover fully in a matter of weeks. She’s resting now.”

Bucky calmed down a bit, still worried. “Is there any chance of her becoming more of a part of the group?” Buck knew everyone was thinking this but no one wanted to ask.

“Possibly. She mentioned how she stayed quiet in order to listen in on Hydra conversation and to rebel against them. She wants to be accepted and comfortable, but it will take time. It’ll be better to work individually with her as opposed to pushing her into a large group. For now though, let’s let her get adjusted to living here and recovering.”

“Speaking of recovery, why don’t we all call it a night. I’m sure we all miss our beds.” Steve said. He could tell that everyone was tired after this big hit on Hydra.

Everyone nodded and mumbled in agreement before heading out. Bruce went to go check on you and help you into your new room here at the tower. Bucky stayed a bit longer, obviously something on his mind. 

He wanted to get close to (Y/N). There was some sort of effect you had on him. He was curious but also protective and wanted to help you. He knew what it was like to deal with those bastards that made up Hydra. While he didn’t know exactly what they did to you, he could imagine all of the possibilities. 

He could help her. He wanted to. This was all new to him, but he knew he needed to talk to Banner and try to get close to her.

But he didn’t want to talk about it yet. He wanted to make sure he had his words right before asking Bruce. He decided to listen to Steve and call it a night. He’d think of a better plan after a long shower and some much needed rest.


	3. "Cautious" - Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Key: Y/N = Your Name, L/N = Your Last Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color
> 
> Warnings: None that I could see other than cursing, but that is just how I talk and it ends up coming through my writing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This is an older story of mine, so my writing style has changed since I wrote this series back in 2017. 
> 
> I would love feedback if you have any! 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> \- DreaSaurusREX

It has been a few weeks since you were rescued by the Avengers from being Hydra’s lab rat. Most of the cuts and bruises were healing and fading nicely. Your ankle still needed a couple more weeks before you could walk comfortably without crutches. With the help of Banner, you were finding a good diet that was full of the nutrients that you had been deprived of while being held hostage.

You still didn’t talk too much, but you were able to be in the same room with them for varying amounts of time. So that was an improvement. This allowed you to observe them. The whole team knew what to expect after Banner talked to them at one of their last meetings.

Some of the team would greet you or ask questions that had yes/no answers. This made it easy to communicate when you wanted to. You thanked them a lot by using your small bit of sign language. These small interactions and periods of watching them interact with each other was more helpful and calming than you expected. There were a few of the Avengers whose auras began to show brighter. No one showed any warning signs or reasons to be wary around them. You didn’t expect anyone to be dangerous, but it was good reassurance.

Physically, you became a bit more calm around them, but you still struggled with speaking. You wanted to talk to them, but you were scared to. They have provided so much for you since Banner helped you onto the jet, you didn’t want to fuck anything up and seem ungrateful or rude.

Baby steps. You would eventually work your way up to being a member of the group. But right now, just take it slow.

Well, that was the plan before another Hydra base was found.

You were to be included in the meeting as soon as they found out about the base. They figured that you had a right to know what was going on. You weren’t aware of this though. So you sat in the kitchen, drinking some tea. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a flash of silver walk past.

It would be a lie if you said you never thought about getting closer to him. He was one of the first ones to help you after Banner got you out of that hellhole. Bucky would always try to talk to you every day. Asking if you needed any help with anything or if you wanted to do anything. Just reminding you that you were safe here and that he was here to help. You could tell he was really trying to help you open up and incorporate yourself into the group more.

He sort of knew what you had been through and could tell when you were getting overwhelmed or needed help. He stood by his original feelings: he wanted to help you. While he has never dealt with your attacks first hand or helped you around, he was caring enough to tell Banner, who would then take the necessary actions.

Until today.

Bucky was heading towards the conference room when he looked into the kitchen and caught a glimpse of your (H/C) sitting at the table. He quickly turned around, stuck his head in, and looked at you with a hint of confusion on his face.

“Hey, (Y/N), aren’t you heading to the meeting? Banner thought it would be good to keep you in the loop.”

You heard Steve and Natasha say that there was a meeting, but you didn’t know you were supposed to join them. Bucky saw that you didn’t know.

“Yeah, Banner probably forgot to call you. He’s been in the lab with Tony trying to get as much research done as possible. Here, let me help you.”

He came a bit closer, grabbed your crutches, and positioned them so it would be easy to go from sitting to standing. You looked at him carefully before putting pressure on your okay foot and settling into the crutches. As soon as you grabbed the crutches, Bucky took a step back to give you space. This didn’t get unnoticed by you. You gave him a small smile and signed “thank you.”

“Anytime, doll. Now, let’s head to the conference room. Don’t want to get an earful from Steve about being late. I’ve heard that too many times.” He chuckled a bit and flashed a smile that made you smile a bit bigger in response. _God, he really was great._ And not just in the looks department.

He led you through the halls since you hadn’t learned the tower yet. While he did lead, he also stayed in pace with you. He also took this time to tell you how these meetings usually ran so you weren’t lost or overwhelmed. Add that to the "Bucky Appreciation" list.

You got to the conference room and saw everyone standing and conversing. Tony and Bruce were discussing their research again, making sure they got everything before informing everyone. There was an empty chair near the door. Bucky pulled it out for you while you waited in the doorframe. You got close to the chair, shifted all your weight onto your okay ankle, and handed him the crutches. He leaned them against the wall before coming back to you and helping you into the chair. You weren’t freaked out when he held your waist, easing you into the comfy office chair. In fact, you had one hand on his shoulder and the other on his arm, for stability.

Everyone noticed this. While they didn’t make it obvious, many eyes were on you. They were seeing you open up a bit to someone other than Bruce. It was a pleasant scene. Steve specifically looked at Bucky. He saw his best friend smiling and could already tell that Bucky felt something towards you. It made sense, and it seemed like a good fit for both of you. 

Bucky smiled again as you got comfortable in the seat. He leaned down a bit so he could be closer to eye level with you. “I’ll be in the seat next to you if you need anything. Or Banner will be upfront helping Tony go over their information before Steve takes over.”

You thought about signing “thank you”, but something pulled you. Instead of signing, you actually told him.

“Thank you, Bucky.” Your voice not much louder than a whisper, but loud enough for him to hear it. He smiled a little bit bigger and sighed a small sigh of relief. He had been wanting to get close to you since you came, and this was a step in the right direction.

“Of course, doll.” He walked over to the chair on your left and sat himself down, a hint of a smile still on his face as he eased into a more serious mindset for the meeting.

Bruce and Steve saw you talk to him, but couldn’t hear what you said. It didn’t really matter _what_ you said, it was the act of talking that surprised them both. They knew better than to make a big deal out of it, so they continued and finally started the meeting.

Bruce made eye contact with you and smiled.

Steve made eye contact with Bucky and smiled.

~~~~~~~~

The meeting went on for 20 - 30 minutes. It was a lot of going over known information, assessing new information, comparing the two, and then creating a plan. This base was known for its chemical experiments, the team decided that both Tony and Bruce were going to be needed for this mission.

You began to worry a little. If Bruce had to go halfway across the world in this mission, would you be all alone here? Sure, they had that AI system in here, but you were still learning to use it. And what if you had an attack or something? An AI system wouldn’t help as much as human interaction. No, Bruce would think of something. He was smart and he knew that you were still healing.

The plan was made, they would meet at the hangar in 30 minutes, and the mission should take 2 - 6 days including travel time. Most of the group dispersed to their respective quarters to grab their stuff, Steve and Bucky stood up and talked to Tony near the front of the room, Bruce put his notes into his folder and walked over to you. He took the seat next to you before putting a hand on your knee.

“Hey, (Y/N). I know this is gonna be new and unsettling, but I _really_ need to go on this one. If its chemicals, that’s all Tony and me. I’ve been giving it some thought. There is no question that it would be too dangerous to have you tag along. But I was thinking someone could stay here with you.”

Steve and Tony were deep into the specifics of the plan. Bucky was close enough to overhear Bruce’s conversation with you.

“I haven’t figured out who yet. I’m going to talk with Cap and Tony to see if there is anyone who isn’t needed for this mission. Then I’ll check in with you. Okay?” Bruce had such a fatherly tone, it was nice. Not condescending, but still clear and careful.

Bucky stood next to you two, cleared his throat a bit, and spoke to Bruce. “Banner. Can I talk to you in the hall for a minute?” They walked into the hall together and you couldn’t see them, but you could hear bits and pieces of their conversation. Not enough to get a clear idea of what they were talking about though.

~~~~~~~~

“You remember how I told you I wanted to help (Y/N)? Well, I think it would be good for me to stay with her while you guys head out. She already trusts me a bit more than the others, today was an example of that. I mean, she actually _talked_ to me today. Granted, it was only ‘thank you’, but still, she actually _said_ words instead of signing them. Obviously it’s up to her, but I wanted to ask you as well since you’ve become close to her.”

Bruce thought about this for a few seconds. He saw how (Y/N) was slowly getting comfortable around Bucky. And he trusted Bucky since he started doing exponentially better after rehabilitation.

“Alright. I’ll ask her. But just know, if she says yes and I hear you did anything even remotely harmful, you will need two brand new arms.”

Bucky nodded his head. “Understood. I promise that I will try my best.”

“You better. Let’s go make sure it’s okay with her.”

~~~~~~~~

You looked up to see the two men come back into the room. Bruce sat back down while Bucky stood off to the side a bit. Bruce grabbed your hand and looked very serious.

“Bucky pulled me aside to ask if _he_ could watch over you while we go on this mission. I told him that I would ask you. I also told him that if he fucks up, he’ll be needing new arms.”

You laughed at that. While you knew he was actually serious about that, it was funny to think about. This calm, caring, father-like figure could really do some damage if necessary.

“So what do you think, (Y/N)? You okay with Bucky helping you out?”

You look at Bucky. He tried to keep a neutral face, but you could tell that he wanted to stay and try to get to know you. You still weren’t super comfortable with anyone else yet. It was proven that you trust him today, so you didn’t need to think much further.

You nodded your head yes. Bruce squeezed your hand and smiled a bit. He was proud of you for making this much progress. He hoped that trusting Bucky would start a slow domino effect until you were comfortable with everyone, and finally integrated into the team.

“Okay. Sounds like a plan then. I will be able to have a comm channel set up so that it's linked to the tower, just in case anything happens. I gotta go get my stuff and get ready. I’ll see you before we take off though.” Bruce squeezed your hand before standing up to prepare for the mission.

You looked over to Bucky. He had a small smile on his face while he leaned over to bring your crutches closer. He held his hand out to help you up, you took it and let him help you get situated.

“Thank you, Bucky.” You said, again your voice wasn’t very loud. Hopefully, it would get louder as you got more okay with the idea of talking.

“No problem, sweetheart. Thank you for trusting me. Now let’s head to the kitchen, I’m starving and we left that tea of yours behind.”

Bucky let you go out the door first before he caught up with you and walked alongside you again.


	4. "Cautious" - Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Key: Y/N = Your Name, L/N = Your Last Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color
> 
> Warnings: Some cursing, but nothing else that I could tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! While this is one of my earlier fics and my writing style has grown and evolved a lot since 2017, feedback is always appreciated!
> 
> -  
> DreaSaurusREX

The team was loading their gear into the jet as you made your way into the hangar with Bucky. You wanted to say bye to everyone, even if it was just waving. Bucky went to talk to Steve. When Bruce finished securing his stuff, he brought you into a large hug. You had hugged him a few times before, but this was by far one of the best. He pulled away but held your arms.

“I will try to update you whenever we figure out our ETA back home. I have that commlink set up in your room. All you have to do is press the call button and it will direct you to me. If anything happens, let me know and I will do my best to help. I know Bucky seems intimidating sometimes, but I trust him to take care of you. He knows the consequences if he doesn’t.”

You chuckle a bit at that part before hugging him again and saying “I’ll be okay. Just make sure to stay safe, please.”

“I’ll try my best. I got the team to help too, they won’t let anything happen. We gotta get ready for take-off. I’ll check in whenever I can.” He kissed your forehead and lightly squeezed your arms before turning his attention to Bucky, who was now standing a couple of feet behind you.

“Be patient with her, and keep her safe.”

“I will do my best, Banner. I’ll update you when needed. Be safe out there.”

With one more wave goodbye to the group, you and Bucky began your walk back to the tower. These next few days were going to be an adventure.

~~~~~~~~

A couple of days ago, Bruce convinced Tony to have your stuff from your apartment in Chicago be shipped to the tower. Since you were going to live with them now, it only made sense. You were still in the process of unpacking it all, and being on crutches didn’t help. Not being able to move with much in your arms was challenging, and you didn’t want to bother Bucky with such a small thing. Sure you had your powers, but they weren’t as strong as they should be. You were focusing more on healing and getting back to normal before really building up your abilities.

So you sat at your desk and began opening a box that was labeled “Electronics and Miscellaneous”. Your Navy Pier mug with your pens and pencils, a stack of your favorite books, some DVDs, your laptop, and a few knickknacks were inside. You pulled your laptop out and thankfully saw the charger next to it. Finding the extension cord, you plugged your charger in and waited for your laptop to boot up. The first thing you did was look at your music. You hadn’t realized how much you missed music until now.

Music was like your own personal time machine. It could take you back to a specific moment in your past or make you think about the future. It could make time fly by or just serve as background music. When you sang along, your thoughts weren’t cluttered or all over the place like usual. You were enveloped in the lyrics and the instruments. You were content, even if only for a brief moment. 

You found a playlist of songs that sparked that flame again. You pressed play and began to unpack the rest of the box. At first, you were just humming along to the instruments, then you found your voice. While still kind of quiet, you began singing. No belting or anything, just soft singing in time with the artist. You were surprised at how much of the lyrics you actually remembered. At the end of the song, the box was unpacked. 1 down, 8 more to go.

Little did you know, Bucky had stopped in your doorway and listened in a little bit. He knocked on the door when the song was over. You gasped a bit and jumped back in your seat.

“Sorry, doll. I didn’t mean to scare you. I knew you had a lot of boxes to unpack. I was wondering if you wanted any help.” He had that kind and perfect grin on his face that made you swoon. You thought about it and then shook your head yes. “Great! Just let me know what to do, boss.”

You realized that you didn’t have many clean clothes. This was going to be even more difficult if you didn’t speak. _“Just fucking go for it, (Y/N). Just talk!”_ You thought to yourself before speaking out loud.

“Well, I need to find any boxes that are labeled ‘Clothing’ and hang that stuff up or put them in my drawers.” After finding two boxes of clothes, you tried to hang some shirts and dresses in the closet, but the crutches got in the way. Bucky put a hand on your shoulder and suggested that you just sit and fold stuff to put in the dresser next to your bed while telling him what needs to be hung. 

Once both boxes were unpacked and the contents were put away, you looked at your watch. 2:45PM. Bucky usually went and trained at around 3:00. He shouldn’t skip a day of training to help you hang clothes.

“Hey, Bucky? I think I am gonna stop unpacking for today and just rest. You don’t need to stick around all day. Don’t you usually go work out at this time?” You realized how creepy that probably sounded. “I mean- That sounds very stalker-ish. But I’ve seen the schedule posted in the hallway of when everyone trains. I know Steve is at 9AM, Wanda at 2PM, you at 3PM, and I’m just going to stop now…”

Bucky let out a small laugh before sitting next to you.

“You’re fine, (Y/N)! I know how observant you are. I think am going to go train. As long as you’re okay and don’t need my help for the next two hours.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m just gonna lay here for a bit.” A nap sounded very nice right now. You had been up since 4AM because of a small nightmare, but you didn’t tell anyone. You were going to talk to Bruce, but then there was the meeting and the sudden departure. You didn’t want to be more of a hassle in a stressful time. Plus, it wasn’t a very bad nightmare, you could brush it off.

“Okay. I’ll have my phone on. Call me if you need anything.” And with that, he was off to get changed and train. As much as you would have loved to watch him (as you sometimes did when you were bored), your bed felt very inviting.

~~~~~~~~

The next two days were filled basically waking up, unpacking with help from Bucky from time to time while you found ways of using your powers to help yourself, and bonding with Bucky. You were getting pretty comfortable talking with him. He told you a lot about his life in the 40s and now. You told him about your life before your abduction. You weren’t scared. You actually felt great. Talking and venting to him was amazing.

After these couple of days of unpacking, you were finally on your last box. It was simply labeled “Walls.” It had a poster from a movie premier you went to in your freshman year, some tickets from various movies and concerts, and a few printed pictures from your camera.

There was also a colorful tapestry folded at the bottom. You got this tapestry during your first week of college, you saw the colors and designs as an interpretation of new beginnings and freedom. Looking at it now, you could see your ability to determine auras was present, even if it was just detecting symbolism in art.

You wanted to hang it up on your wall here. The colors still represented those messages to you, just not at a college level anymore.

Bucky was probably getting ready to go train, so you decided to try to hang it by yourself. Without even thinking, you knew you wanted it to flow behind the headboard of your bed. That’s how you had it in your dorm room and how you had it in your apartment when you moved. You grabbed some hooks that stuck to the wall and put them on your nightstand, then you tackled the difficult job of standing on your bed. Somehow you got up and stood up straight without putting too much pressure on your ankle. It was doing better, but still healing.

 _“There has to be some way I can make this work.”_ You thought to yourself. Adjusting your focus so part of it was on staying balanced, you felt your powers take hold of you. It felt like little, invisible, stationary cubes were lined around your body. They would shift to form to you, but they would be solid and not move too much. It helped you stay upright without putting your injured ankle down on your bed. No pressure on that ankle, no pain.

Once you felt secure, you kept this line of focus while also making the hooks raise up to your level. You placed one hook on the wall when a very loud voice broke your concentration and balance. You felt all of the invisible cubes suddenly disappear and you started to fall back towards the edge of your bed.

“(Y/N)! What the hell are you doing?!” Bucky quickly walked over to the edge of the bed in time to catch you. He sounded so worried, which was new. 

“I was trying to hang my tapestry. I was doing okay until you broke my concentration.”

“That looked really unstable. Just… Let me hang it up. I don’t want you to make your ankle worse.” Bucky sat you down in your desk chair. You’ve learned that there really isn’t any debating when it came to Bucky. You wanted to explain how you were using your powers to help yourself, but you were kind of tired from holding your focus that well for that long on your entire body.

~~~~~~~~

It was around 5:45PM, you knew Bucky changed his workout time tonight to start at 6:00PM instead of his usual 3:00PM. So right now he was probably getting ready for at least two hours at the gym, a shower, and then dinner.

 _Dinner_. You had an idea. 

You looked at a black and gold binder in your small bookshelf. You wanted to try your abilities again. The only way that you were going to get stronger and have more control over them would be if you practiced them more. It was just like the water bottle in the jet.

You focused your eyes on the binder, held your hand out to grab it, and made it quickly move out of the shelf and into your hand. You forgot how big it was, so you quickly brought up both hands to catch it. Gazing down at the binder in your lap, you had a moment to be proud of yourself, and then began to go through it to try to find one of your favorite recipes.

As soon as you found it, you heard a knock at your door and a familiar face poke through into your room. You shut your binder so Buck didn’t see what was inside. He gave you a funny look but assumed it was nothing and spoke anyways.

“Hey (Y/N). I’m gonna go workout. Do you need anything before I head out?”

“Nope. I think I’m good. Thank you.”

With a flash of that great smile of his, he headed out. Time to get your plan in motion.

~~~~~~~~

When you left for college, your mom made a binder full of recipes from your life. Everything from simple chocolate chip cookies to the perfect marinated steak and veggies served with herb butter. Tonight, you were going to keep it on more of the simple side. Your mom used to make these chicken panini sandwiches that you loved. It was just putting a piece of fried chicken between two pieces of french baguette with this marmalade on it, then heating it on a stovetop with some sort of press to make it as flat as possible.

You decided to try out your powers again. These new tiny squares were interesting. You got everything out that you would need and put it on the counter. You heated up the stove and found a cast iron presser to put on top of the sandwiches while they cooked. You had also brought your laptop out to play music while you cooked. You had a certain playlist stuck in your head. 

Once everything was laid out, you took a deep breath, focused on using your powers to hold you steady. You felt them start to line up around your leg and then make their way up to your chest. You left your neck and arms free for obvious reasons. The moment of truth, you put your crutches off to the side. There you were, standing straight next to the counter, perfectly balanced.

After a brief minute of adjustment, you got to work on the sandwiches. You forgot how much you missed cooking. The enjoyment you got from the action, the music was easy to sing along to, and the general calmness of the atmosphere overtook your thoughts. You didn’t even hear Bucky go into his room to shower and change, nor did you hear him make his way into the kitchen.

It was a good thing your timing worked out perfectly. As soon as he came into the kitchen and began to lecture you about how it’s dangerous for you to do stuff like this with no one around, you held a plate of food out in front of him.

“Did you make this for me?” He looked shocked but kind of happy.

“I don’t see anyone else around. You’ve done more than enough for me, so I figured I should try to say thank you in more than words.” You pause for a second, taking a deeper breath in, realizing that you felt yourself slipping. The cubes shifting away one by one. “Please take it, I'm losing my balance.” You admitted. 

As soon as you said that last part, Bucky took the plate from you, put it on the counter and grabbed your crutches. As soon as you touched the crutches, the cubes vanished and you suddenly felt exhausted. Once you adjusted yourself on the crutches, he put his hands on your arms to help really stabilize you and shoot you a worried look.

“You really shouldn’t have done that without anyone here, doll. You’ve obviously worn yourself out with how much focus it took to do all of this." Bucky paused, looking back at the sandwich. "That being said, this looks amazing. I’ll grab us some drinks and bring our plates to the table. Go sit.”

You tried to protest, but Bucky stopped you before you got a word out.

“I’m not gonna argue this, sweetheart. Go. Sit. Down.”

You sigh a bit and mutter “fine” under your breath as you make your way to the table. He watched you to make sure you didn’t fall over or anything. Truth was, you were actually beyond tired, but you didn’t want him to be right.

The first few minutes of dinner are quiet. Both of you eating while you played some instrumental music quietly in the background. It was a soundtrack from a show that you saw as a kid. You were looking down at your laptop to chose a specific song when Bucky _really_ looked at you.

You were beautiful inside and out. He loved everything about you. Getting to be close to you these past couple of days just made his thoughts and feelings for you flourish. But he also knew that you were still adapting to this new life and that a relationship would probably do more harm than good right now. 

He could also tell how much energy it took to do this. And all just to thank him? He really didn’t do much because you’re stubborn and try your hardest to do things for yourself. Did you really not realize that he was doing this all because he _wanted_ to? Because he really cared about you?

“(Y/N)? You know you don’t have to thank me for any of what I’m doing right, right? Now, I don’t want to make this weird or uncomfortable, but I _volunteered_ to stay here and help you out. To be honest, when I saw you have that mini-episode on the jet after we found you, I knew I wanted to help you. I remember what those bastards did to me, and I can’t even imagine what fresh hell they had at that lab. I know how hard it is to come back from that. I wanted to get close to you and show you that you _can_ come back. I honestly want to see you grow and become part of the team because I truly care about you.”

You honestly didn’t know what to say. He had taken you by surprise with all of that. You take a few moments trying to think of something to say in response.

“That wasn’t weird or uncomfortable. I just… I know you volunteered for all of this, I know you care, but I didn’t really think it was for you. ” You thought about your words again. “I thought you were volunteering and helping out because you thought the group wanted you to or like it was expected of you.”

“I get that. I also get that what you said is the totally opposite of what everyone else thought. Everyone thought Steve or Sam would be the first to win your trust after Banner, and that my experience with Hydra would make it more difficult for me. I am pretty glad I can now prove them wrong and say that I beat Steve to it.” Bucky let out a small chuckle. You smiled a bit before thinking about what to say again.

“I’m glad it was you instead of anyone else.” Both of you sat there for a second, processing everything that was said.

After this pause, Bucky started asked about your powers and your interests. He was really intrigued by the idea of auras. He asked what auras the rest of the gang had and what they meant. You loved how interested he was and gladly explained everything to him. You guys just sat there and talked for a good 30 or 40 minutes.

You let out a pretty decent sized yawn and then looked at your watch. 10:45PM. You needed to get some rest. After everything you did today, your mind and body were exhausted. But you knew you left a bit of a mess in the kitchen sink. So dishes, clean your face, brush your teeth, then bedtime.

“I think I’m gonna head to bed soon. I’m really tired.” You said as another yawn escaped your body.

“Yeah, it is getting pretty late, isn’t it. Go head to bed, I’ll probably be up for a little bit, gotta do some work before bed.” Bucky grabbed your crutches and helped you stand up on them. Once you were stable, he placed his hands on your arms, leaned down to kiss your forehead and said “Thank you for dinner. It really was amazing.” Flashing that brilliant, toothy grin to you, he turned, grabbed the plates and cups, and headed to the kitchen. You followed.

You knew he was going to do the dishes, but you wanted to help. As soon as he saw you come into the kitchen, he got a sort of facial expression that said ‘Really?’

“What are you doing, doll? You need to get some rest.” He knew you had a good heart, but he wasn’t going to let you work anymore tonight. You needed sleep.

“Well, I didn’t want you to do all of the dishes. You do too much as is.” You started to make your way closer to the sink. Bucky stopped you about halfway.

“You cook, I clean. It’s a rule. Now go. Your room is that way.” Bucky pointed to the hallway and then turned towards the sink and started scrubbing one of the plates. You puff out a little sigh and keep moving towards the sink.

“It’s a stupid rule.” You hobbled over next to him at the sink and started to pick up one of the cups and wash it with the sponge. Bucky was wiping his hands on the dishtowel before he turned to you. He had a small smile that was a bit mischievous.

“(Y/N), put down the cup and put your crutches to the side.” He didn’t sound worried or demanding or anything.

You were curious as to why he would ask such a strange thing, so you did what he asked. As soon as your crutches were leaning up against the counter and you turned around to face him, your feet were lifted off the ground and you were in Bucky’s arms.

“Bucky! What _the fuck_?! Put me _down!_ ”

“Since you're having a hard time finding your room, I figured I’d help you find your way.” He had that stupid smile on his face because your reaction was priceless. You thought it was funny, but you also were surprised and playfully angry.

He opened your door, placed you on your bed, found a pair of your leggings in your drawer and a tank top from your closet. He then quickly went back to the kitchen and grabbed your crutches.

“Now, you have pajamas and you’re in your room. I’m going to go do the dishes and you are going to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning. The team should be getting back tomorrow at some point. Goodnight, sweetheart.”

“Ugh. Why are you so wonderful, Bucky Barnes? Goodnight.”

He shut the door behind him and you could hear the dishes clanking and the water running a few seconds later. You changed into your leggings and tank, brushed your teeth, and went under your covers.

You were falling _hard_ for Bucky. 

He understood you, he cared about you, and he was such an incredible human being. There really wasn’t anything to dislike about him. But you figured he wasn’t the type of guy that wanted a relationship. So you just kept those thoughts to yourself as you drifted to sleep, hoping they would influence your brain to come up with some enjoyable dreams.

Apparently your mind had its own plans for what you would be seeing in your sleep that night.


	5. "Cautious" - Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Key: Y/N = Your Name, L/N = Your Last Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color
> 
> Warnings: Cursing, Mentions of Torture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! While this is one of my earlier fics and my writing style has grown and evolved a lot since 2017, feedback is always appreciated!
> 
> -  
> DreaSaurusREX

_Pain. That’s all you felt. Your whole body ached and you could feel all of the cuts and bruises on your body. You couldn’t breathe. Your head was being held down in a tub of freezing water. These Hydra fuckers were back at it again with the torture. You didn’t want to give in. You didn’t want to show them your whole self. You could not become their weapon._

_The red aura-ed man was standing over your kneeled body. His bitches had finally backed off from dunking your head in the water. You fought to catch your breath, finding yourself going into a coughing fit. You needed to lean forward and cough it all out. You still felt your body fall forward and towards the cold linoleum flooring._

_In the middle of your fit, a large hand grabbed the back of your head and pulled you back to your knees. You begin to beg. An ominous laugh burst out behind you and you realized that this wasn’t one of the henchmen. The red aura-ed man twisted you around until you were face to face while still gripping your hair._

_“Poor, sweet (Y/N). You know how much good this begging does. The only way this will get any easier for you is if you give in and use your abilities for our cause. That super soldier that you fell head over heels for was a much better dog than you, bitch”_

_Before even thinking, your rebellious side decided it would be smart to spit in his face. Literally spit in this Hydra leader’s face. Yep, **super** smart._

_As soon as you did this, you knew you fucked up. His eyes closed and he let out a slow, maniacal laugh. As he continued to laugh, he threw you to the ground. You tried to back away but hit a wall. Even if you wanted to attempt to stand and run away, you couldn’t. The man had ruined your ankle before and it still hurt to put a normal amount of pressure on it._

_There was a strange look in the man’s eyes, like a predator coming after its prey. He stopped right in front of you and glared down at you. Without any warning, he brought his leg up and stomped heavily on your ankle._

_You were in so much pain. Your ankle was fucked up before, but now it was shattered. There was absolutely no way of escaping. You felt yourself fading in and out. You fought to stay awake._

_He squatted down to your level and grabbed your arms painfully tight. He shook you while yelling at you. His voice was muffled but you could tell that if you didn’t answer, it would end badly for you. It sounded different than his actual voice, but somehow still familiar._

_The only thing you could make out was “Maybe I’ll try that soldier again. Maybe that’s what it’ll take for you to completely break.”_

_You were in too much agony to respond. He raised one of his arms up, getting ready to strike you. You held your arm up to try to defend yourself. Then everything went black._

~~~~~~~~

Your eyes shot open and you were in a bed in a dark room. You felt hands on your arms and panicked. You broke free from one of the grips somehow. Living on edge as much as you do, you had a pocket knife under the pillow next to you. You instinctively reached for it and flipped it out. Before you could fight back, the hands that were on your arms moved to your wrists and pinned you down. You tried your hardest to fight back. You tried to squirm out of his grip, yelling as you did so. You were in complete fear. But then you heard his voice.

~~~~~~~~  
(Bucky's POV)  
It started as little whimpers and groans. Bucky had finished doing the dishes and was sitting in the living room doing some other work. It was extremely silent in the tower, so he could hear anything going on. He heard some noises from your room but dismissed them as normal. But then it got to words and quickly escalated to full-on crying and screaming. He instantly dropped everything and ran to your room.

He saw you jerking and gripping your pillow as tight as you could. There was no doubt that you were having a nightmare, and Bucky could guess what it was about.

He tried to just lightly shake you awake, but you were too deep into the nightmare. He grabbed your arms a bit tighter and shook a bit harder. Not enough to do any harm.

You woke up finally. He was going to breathe a sigh of relief when you somehow broke out of his grip and had a knife in your hand. Bucky’s instinct kicked in. As you swung at him, he grabbed your arm, hit the knife out of your hand and threw it across the room. He didn’t want to, but he had to grab both of your wrists and hold you down. You weren’t back yet.

“(Y/N)! _(Y/N)!_ Hey! You’re okay! _You’re safe!_ It’s me! It’s Bucky!” He tried his hardest to make you see his face. He knew you would come out of this haze. He just had to be patient and try to do what Steve used to do for him.

~~~~~~~~  
(Reader POV)  
“Bucky?” You studied his face for a second, those incomparable eyes were his. A flash of light reflected off one of his arms that were holding you down. You felt the coolness of the metal. This was real. He was real.

“I’m so sorry, Bucky. I…” You could barely get those few words out before you broke down crying. He was quick to pull you into his lap and wrap his arms around you. You buried your head in the crook of his neck while he traced soothing patterns along your back.

“Shh… It’s okay. There’s nothing to apologize for. It was all a bad dream. You’re okay now.” He realized how cold you felt. It was like touching an ice pack. He let go of you so he could take off his hoodie and help you into it. “I got you, sweetheart.”

Bucky’s hoodie was incredibly warm and had a strong scent. It was comforting, but not enough to bring you back to a normal breathing pattern. You were still thinking about what happened in your nightmare. Everything seemed so real. You could almost _feel_ the man grabbing you and smashing your ankle again.

“I was back in that lab. They were torturing me again and he said he was going to go after you and the pain…” As he lovingly shushed you, Bucky picked you up so he could lean against your headboard with you still in his lap.

“It’s okay. I’m here, doll. I’m not going anywhere.” He got comfortable and secured his arm around you, his other arm slowly rubbing yours. You adjusted yourself so you were back in the crook of his neck. You pulled the sleeves of the hoodie down so you could bundle it up and hold them in your palms. The tears kept flowing, you couldn’t stop yourself from shaking. You felt fragmented, but Bucky somehow kept you from breaking more.

~~~~

It took about 15 minutes for you to get back to a manageable state, but it felt like longer. You stopped crying 10 minutes ago. You were shaking a bit, but not nearly as bad as earlier. You found your breathing getting closer and closer to normal. You wanted to talk, but you couldn’t find the words you wanted. You didn’t know where to start. You just felt _bad._

Bucky had stopped everything he was doing to come to your rescue. He woke you up and shook you from your imagined hellscape. He is staying with you now, making sure you are okay. He gave you his hoodie because he knew it would help. He was really doing this because he wanted to. You felt kind of guilty for putting him through this. You knew he wouldn’t accept your apology, but you thought it’d be good to do so anyway.

“Bucky?” You wanted to make sure he was awake so you weren’t talking to the air. You felt him shift a bit underneath you.

“Yeah, doll?”

“I’m sorry about all of this. I didn’t think the nightmares would get that bad. And if they did, I thought I could handle them.”

A thought came to your mind. You pulled a knife on Bucky. You sat up and looked at your hands with such a confused and remorseful face.

He saw your face change and knew something clicked in your head. “(Y/N)? Hey. What’s wrong, (Y/N)?”

“I pulled a knife on you. You have been nothing but kind and supportive and I pulled a goddamn _knife_ on you.” You felt your breathing becoming struggled, your hands were shaking pretty bad. Bucky took your hands in his.

“(Y/N), I know you didn’t do it on purpose. You didn’t realize it was me. I’m sure you thought I was whoever was in your nightmare. Pulling the knife out was self-defense. It was instinct."

He could feel you still shaking, you were looking down, so deep in your thoughts. He still had one of your hands in his but moved the other to your chin to make you look at him.

“Hey. You’re _fine_. I mean it. I used to do similar things to Steve when I was still recovering. Hell, I almost _shot_ him. Four or five times actually. It’s almost expected for you to have these types of reactions. After what you’ve been through, I’d be surprised if you _didn’t_ have some sort of immediate self-defense like that.”

You were starting to feel a bit better. A stray tear rolled down your cheek as you gave his hand a small squeeze. Bucky gave a small smile and brought his hand to your cheek and wiped away the tear.

“Now, come on back. I’m gonna stay here and make sure nothing bad happens again. And don’t even _try_ to tell me to leave.”

You didn’t want to argue, you actually really _wanted_ him to stay. You felt safe around Bucky. Holding his hand, being next to him, or even just talking to him made you feel normal. Like how it used to be _before_ Hydra.

You grabbed your laptop and put on a few videos from a YouTube channel that you enjoyed. It was light-hearted and easy to fall asleep to. 

Bucky laid back and took your laptop. He placed it on his lap as you settled back under your sheets. He put his arm around you and you pulled yourself closer to him. You bunched up the end of one of the sleeves of his hoodie that he let you borrow, and brought it up to your face along with pulling up the collar too. It smelled peaceful and the fabric was cozy. 

He was watching the video and absentmindedly running his hand through your hair. You felt your eyes starting to get heavy as you listened to the video and Bucky’s heartbeat, and ended up falling asleep fairly quickly. Bucky felt you drifting. He looked down to see you curled up against him with his hoodie and him pulled close. Leaning down a bit, Bucky kissed your forehead before whispering to you, hoping it wouldn’t wake you up.

“You’re safe, I promise. Goodnight, doll.”

~~~~~~~~

There was light shining through a crack in your blinds that landed right across your face, causing you to wake up. Pulling your phone from its charger cord, you checked the time. 8:30AM. Pretty normal wake up time for you by now.

You woke up wrapped around a pillow. Peeling the covers back, you walked to your bathroom. You stared in the mirror and saw that you were wearing someone else’s hoodie. 

Bucky’s hoodie. 

So last night _was_ real. Bucky probably woke up early and went to go do something. That’s when you started to smell something delicious. Then you heard music. You had to go investigate.

You took off the hoodie because you were a bit warm now, and hobbled out of your room with your crutches. Following the sound led you to the kitchen, where you saw Bucky cooking pancakes and listening to one of the soundtracks from your computer. He seemed so calm and relaxed.

You debated whether to continue into the kitchen or go back to your room. You felt like such a bother last night, Bucky should get a break from you. You didn’t want to be any more of an inconvenience.

As soon as you began to turn to go back to your room, you hear Bucky’s voice. His weirdly good hearing must have kicked in. You look back and see that smile that you’ve come to know and love.

“Morning, doll! Go ahead and sit, I'm making some breakfast. Figured you’d want some too. You sleep okay?”

“Yeah. I was out solid halfway through that video.”

“Good. Good. Well, it’ll be another couple of minutes for breakfast.”

“I’m gonna make some tea then.” You hobble over to the cabinet and find the tea flavor that you were craving. He already had a cup of hot water waiting for you. You put the tea in and let it steep before grabbing your creamer from the fridge. Then you had a thought.

You put your creamer in your tea and once you put the cap on the carton, Bucky took it from you to put it back in the fridge. Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath and focused on your tea. You felt a shift in the area around you, causing you to open your eyes. You saw the now familiar, invisible, cubes come circle around the cup and begin to lift it up. A small smile formed on your face as you started to make your way to the table, with your mug in mid-air next to you.

Bucky turned around from putting the creamer away and just stared in awe. He knew you were getting stronger and this wasn’t a huge deal compared to how you kept yourself stable yesterday, but he still found a smile had formed on his face because of how proud he was. You were opening up, you were growing, and you seemed happier.

He finished making the last of the pancakes as you came back into the kitchen. He put the plates of pancakes down before grabbing your crutches from you and leaning them up against the wall.

You two began eating and it was pretty silent. You wanted to talk about last night, but you didn’t know how to. So you just sat and played with your food while trying to think of the correct words. It wasn’t until Bucky spoke that you realized how long you had been doing so.

“You doing alright, doll? Sorry if the pancakes aren’t the best.” He smiled at the end to let you know he was joking. You let out a small chuckle and a smile.

“No no. The pancakes are great. I just… Last night. I’m sorry you had to deal with that, but I’m also so grateful that you were there and _stayed_ there. The entire time I’ve been here, I have always been a bit wary of everything. I understand that it’s safe, it’s just that my mind and body act like it’s not. But then I spend these last few days with you, and last night with you, and I just… I feel okay. I actually feel okay around someone else other than Bruce. Even around Bruce, I’m still a bit off.”

“Two more things. 1) I will never stop saying ‘Thank you’ to you and 2) I like you. That being said, I don’t know where I want to go from there. I obviously don’t know how you feel about me. And I just… I think I should probably get a little bit more comfortable with the rest of the team."

Bucky took a second to process all of what you had just said. Once he gathered his thoughts a bit, he asked if you were done speaking your mind. You nodded a yes, and then it was his turn to take a deep breath and speak.

“First off, last night was not anything to apologize for. You’ve been through hell and back. It makes sense that you would react how you did. I’m glad to hear that I was able to be helpful because I have to admit that I liked being with you. Hearing you say all of what you said was actually a sigh of relief for me. I want the best for you. And I told Banner this when you first got here and I took a liking to you. I knew you were different, but you are so much more. I have liked you for a while now. I never said anything because I wanted you to be as comfortable as possible around here before even bringing that idea up.”

You couldn’t really believe what you just heard. Bucky likes you too? And he’s willing to wait for you to be ready to make any sort of move?

“I will probably tell Steve though. I trust him. If I tell him not to let anyone else know, he won’t let anything slip.”

Before you could say anything about how you were most likely going to talk to Bruce as well, there was noise down the hallway. The elevator dinged and there was a cacophony of conversation coming to the kitchen. Seconds later, Steve, Tony, Vision, Wanda, and Natasha walked into the kitchen for some breakfast. Bucky stood up to go hug Steve and welcome the others back home, but you stayed in your seat.

You froze. You were conflicted. Half of you wanted to go back to being quiet and cautious, while the other half wanted to just come out and be friends with them already. You just took another sip of your tea and tried to focus on your breathing and not shaking so much.

Bucky saw that you hadn’t moved too much and got a bit worried. He got even more worried when he saw Nat walking towards you. He knew better than to make a scene out of it, so he just stood back and watched. Steve joined Bucky, already knowing that something had happened between his best friend and (Y/N).

You felt a hand on your shoulder and turned to see Natasha sit in the seat next to you.

“Hey (Y/N). Banner wanted me to tell you that he is up in the lab. He got some chemical samples from this warehouse and needed to get them analyzing as soon as possible. He also wants to see you and do a check-up. So head up whenever you’re ready.” She got up to get your crutches that were leaning against the wall. You let her help you up and get adjusted in them. You felt as comfortable around her as you did with Steve. And that’s good enough for you to work with.

When you were situated in your crutches, you decided to stop signing simple phrases. As she began to walk away, you tapped her arm causing her to turn around with a bit of worry in her eyes. Her worry was like an older sister’s protective gaze on a younger sibling. It was nice.

“Is there something else you need, (Y/N)?” Her voice was very calm and sweet. Definitely got an older sister vibe from her.

“No. I just…” You struggled for a second before breathing and trying again. “Thank you, Natasha.”

You saw a smile grow on her face as she realized what you’d just done. You were accepting her. Little did you know, she had been waiting to get close to you. She couldn’t imagine what you’ve gone through, and she wanted to be there for you. There are some things that men just don’t understand.

Natasha put a hand on your arm. “You are _very_ welcome, (Y/N). If you ever need help, I’m always here. I know how difficult it is to live with these guys. So if you need an escape or a girl’s night, I gotcha covered.”

You smiled and said thank you once more before heading out of the kitchen, towards the lab to see Bruce. Now how were you going to tell him about these past few days with Bucky?

~~~~~~~~

Natasha walked to the fridge and grabbed some fruit to cut up. Bucky walked over with Steve not too far behind.

“Where’d (Y/N) go?” He asked, a bit worried.

“Banner wanted her in the lab for a check-up.” She responded.

Steve butted in now. “Couldn’t help but watch your interaction with her. Did she actually talk to you, Nat?”

“Yeah, she did. Just a ‘Thank you.’ Nothing much more than that. But that’s a good sign right?” While she was answering Steve’s question, she looked at Bucky, assuming he would have the answer to her question.

“Yes. That's a very good sign. We all still need to be cautious around her though. She told me that she wants to get closer to everyone. I know we all want her to be part of the family, but we have to go at her pace.” Bucky knew that everyone already knew to be careful, but he just wanted to reinforce it.

“Would inviting her to movie night be too much?” Steve asked. Every Friday was dinner and movie night in the tower. You had missed the last few because you were still working through a lot.

Bucky had to think for a second on that. As long as he or Bruce were there to help out if needed, she should be fine.

“That sounds like a good idea actually.”

Natasha went back to cutting up fruit and began talking to Wanda, who is making french toast. Bucky grabs Steve’s arm and pulls him to the side.

“Hey, Stevie, can I talk to you for a sec?”


	6. "Cautious" - Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Key: Y/N = Your Name, L/N = Your Last Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color
> 
> Warnings: None that I know of

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! While this is one of my earlier fics and my writing style has grown and evolved a lot since 2017, feedback is always appreciated!
> 
> -  
> DreaSaurusREX

The elevator seemed to take longer than usual to go up to the lab. You were excited to see Bruce. You would be lying if you said you didn’t worry about him while he was out on the mission. He was like a father, you cared about him. So seeing him in one piece through the glass doors of the lab allowed you to let out a sigh of relief. He really _was_ okay.

The automatic doors opened and you came into the lab. Tony saw you first, Bruce was working on writing some sort of chemical composition into the computer.

“Hey there, (Y/N),” Tony said a bit louder than usual in order to get Bruce’s attention away from his computer. He was still a bit weird around you, but you both knew that you would get closer to him at some point.

You waved hello to him and stood there a bit awkwardly until Bruce got up from his desk and walked towards you. Within seconds of him getting out of his chair, you were in his arms. Warm, protective, and loving. You thought about how different it felt to hug him than to hug Bucky.

“It’s so good to see you, (Y/N). Here, let’s head out to do your check-up.” He led you down the hall and into another very sterile looking room that you were quite familiar with. You leaned against the table and let Bruce take your crutches to lean them against the nearby wall. He was about to help you up on the examination table when you stopped him.

“Wait. I wanna show you something. Well, it would also be an experiment for me.” Bruce was a bit skeptical but agreed. He saw something new in you. Some new sort of flame.

“Alright… Just be careful.” He took a step back so he could still be close in case something went wrong.

You took a deep breath in and thought about lifting yourself up. You haven’t ever lifted yourself up yet, but you felt like you could do it. You’ve been able to keep yourself balanced and lift other objects with your powers, why not combine them both? 

That shift in the air around you came back and you opened your eyes to see your friendly cubes line up around you. Then you saw your feet lift off the ground just enough so you could slide yourself onto the table. As soon as you sat securely on the table, you broke your focus and the cubes disappeared. You had apparently held your breath for a bit because as the cubes vanished, you exhaled and had to take a few deep breaths to get back to normal.

Bruce was back to your side and had a mixed feeling of amazement and worry. He was impressed with how much you’ve grown, but he saw how much energy that took out of you.

“So I’m guessing that was something new?” He said in a lighthearted manner. You smiled and let out a sort of chuckle as you nodded to him.

As Bruce checked your vitals and got the scans he needed, you two chatted and caught up on what had been going on these past few days. He told you about the mission and how well the team did in disposing of all of the Hydra chemicals and information. You explained your new ability to the best of your advantage. You had to do a sort of drawing to explain the cubes, but Bruce understood it as well as he could. He wanted you to keep working on strengthening your powers, but not overworking yourself. He even mentioned that Wanda would most likely be willing to help you once you got comfortable around her.

You also told him about how you got closer to Bucky, how he helped you a lot more than you thought he would and how you two are very comfortable around each other. He asked some specifics and you told most of them. But then you felt a knot form inside and you became nervous because of what you were going to admit to him.

“Speaking of Bucky, I want to tell you something. But you cannot talk about it with others and I really don’t want you to be upset about it.” Bruce sat down on the stool, sighed a little, said “okay”, and motioned for you to continue. You took a deep breath in and gathered your thoughts.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush so here we go: I like Bucky. As in, I have feelings for him. And he likes me, in the same way. That being said, he understands that I don’t want to make this a big deal and I don't want to deal with any of that before I am even comfortable with the rest of the team. He has been nothing but helpful, caring, and overall _wonderful_ with me."

Banner was quiet. You couldn’t read his face. You could tell he was thinking. Suddenly, he stood up and grabbed one of your hands.

“I’m happy that you are growing as much as you are. And you’ve obviously put thought into all of this like you do with everything. And he _has_ been doing a good job around you.” He looked at your face before nodding his head and speaking again. “As long as you’re safe, I think it’ll all be okay.”

You slid off of the examination table and onto your good foot before throwing your arms around him in a hug. Bruce hugged back as you thanked him. He helped you back on the table and took a look at a screen off to the side of you.

“I need to hook you back up for a few minutes for some more scans. So just sit tight and I’ll be back in about 10 or so minutes.” He wrapped a blood pressure reader to your upper arm, something to your index finger, and a couple of sticky sensors on your chest.

“Wait, you’re not staying here? I thought you said it’s going to only take a few minutes.”

“Yeah, I’ll be right back. I’m going to have a quick chat with Buck.” Before you could protest, he was out the sliding doors and on his way upstairs to the common area. Something told you that the heart monitors were going to be a little bit higher than usual.

~~~~~~~~

Steve and Bucky were in the living room, away from everyone else still bustling around the kitchen and dining room area. Steve knew something was up.

“You don’t have your comm on you anymore right?” Bucky asked. Steve nodded his head no and waited for Buck to speak his mind.

“I like (Y/N).” He was a bit quieter than normal, and Steve could see that he meant what he said.

“Oh. Okay. I kind of figured it was going to happen at some point, but I didn’t think so soon. Does she know?”

“Yeah, we were talking about it and then you guys came back and she went to go see Banner.”

“And? Did anything happen? I mean, did anything come out of your conversation with her?”

“I told her how I felt. We both want a relationship, but she wants to wait until she is more in the group. I told her I would wait and help out as much as I can. You should have seen how amazing her smile was when we were talking, or how calm and beautiful she was when we would just hang out or unpack her stuff. And I found out that she can sing. Well, I haven’t heard her full-on sing, but she’s started to sing along quietly to whatever music she plays whenever she has it on.” He took a breath in and kind of got lost in his thoughts. “I can’t wait for everyone to see her how she _really_ is.” He didn’t really think about what he was saying, but it was true nonetheless.

Bucky was kind of looking off into the distance as he was talking. Steve had never seen his best friend like this. Sure, Bucky was a ladies man back in the day, but this was different. You were unlike any ordinary dame that old Bucky used to meet up with. He was in love and happy.

“Well, let’s hope dinner and movie night tonight will help with that.” Steve clapped Bucky’s shoulder and smiled with him.

Someone cleared their throat. It wasn’t either of them. Then they looked behind them to see Banner standing there with an indistinguishable expression on his face. The only way to describe it would be like a protective dad. His eyes were on Bucky.

“I need to talk to you.” His voice was low and serious. Bucky stepped forward so he was closer to Bruce, his posture that of a soldier’s. Steve was deciding on whether to stay or go until Bruce spoke up.

“You can stay. I’m sure you know about what we are going to talk about. Plus, I need a witness.” Steve moved so he was a step to the right of Bucky and Bruce. Bucky couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy. He knew where this was going.

“So (Y/N) talked to you about what happened?” Bucky didn’t really even need to ask, but he figured it was good to be 100% clear.

“She did. And I told her that I was okay with it all.”

“Are you?”

“Yes. I’m glad she's been able to get close to you and improve as much as she has. This is good for her. I am okay with you two being together, when she is ready.”

Bucky nodded and they stood in silence for a couple of seconds. Bruce broke the silence.

“That being said, if I hear anything about you harming her in _any_ way, I will not hesitate. And if it’s something serious, you can kiss that arm goodbye along with possibly some other limbs. Am I clear?”

Sure Bucky had seen Banner's other side and the damage he could do. But he had never seen _this_ side of him. Bruce really treated you like a daughter. It was new and honestly made him a bit nervous.

“Yes, sir. ”

“Good. Just… Be patient and be with her. You don’t always have to do everything for her, she likes being a bit independent. But just be there for her. She really does like you. Don’t mess this up.”

Bruce turned and headed back to check on you, leaving Bucky and Steve there. Bucky was stiff as a brick wall until Steve put his hand on his shoulder and kind of teased him.

“Man, I haven’t seen you that nervous since high school.” Bucky laughed a bit with Steve, still coming down from being so tense.

“Haven’t had a reason to be that scared since then I guess.”

“Alright, let’s grab something to eat and then plan dinner with the rest of the team while Sam and Rhodey debate movies again.”


	7. "Cautious" - Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Key: Y/N = Your Name, L/N = Your Last Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color
> 
> Warnings: Cursing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! While this is one of my earlier fics and my writing style has grown and evolved a lot since 2017, feedback is always appreciated!
> 
> -  
> DreaSaurusREX

After Bruce got the last of your scans done, he had to go back to the lab and help Tony with the chemicals that they found at the Hydra base. He told you that they most likely weren’t going to make it to dinner or the movie tonight. You knew how hard they worked when something new happened. You decided to just head back to your room and try to do something in there.

You sat at your desk and looked around a bit. You opened your laptop and put on some music and you tried to stand up. Using the desk as a stabilizer, you tried to put some weight on your ankle, just to see if you could even limp instead of always having to use your powers, use your crutches, or have someone help you. Much to your surprise, you could actually limp a few feet away to your shelving unit in the corner.

You grabbed your pad of paper and paints, put them on your desk and went to fill a cup with some water for your brushes. You didn’t know what you wanted to paint at first, but then it hit you like a truck and you began working.

A knock at your door broke your concentration. Apparently you had been working for a long time because your clock read 6:00PM. Last time you even looked at your clock, it was a bit past 11AM. You looked down at your sketchbook and realized how close to you were to being done. You ended up painting a sort of collage of symbols of the team. The Avengers logo was a bit off-center to the right. Steve’s shield, Sam’s wings, Tony’s helmet, red wisps for Wanda, and Bucky’s arm were just a few of what you had on there. You still had to do some finishing touches, but you were pretty happy with this after not painting for so long.

Another couple of light knocks tapped your door followed by Steve’s voice asking if you were there. Usually, you would grab your crutches and open the door, but you didn’t this time. You needed to start making changes and challenging yourself to get more involved with the team. First challenge: Talk to the ones you’re more comfortable with. Like Steve.

You realized that you were only in leggings and a tank top, so you looked around for a cardigan or something. You saw Bucky’s hoodie on your bed and slipped in on. It still smelled like him. A smile formed on your face.

Clearing your throat a bit and pausing your music, you found your voice.

“Yeah. Come on in.”

Steve was taken a bit by surprise but came in. You could tell that he had showered and changed since he got back this morning. He probably took a nap in his free time too. You also saw his aura even more. Definitely navy blue, but now there were flecks of ivory. Neutral, calm, and safe. You smiled a bit.

Steve took a step or two into your room and looked around. He hadn’t been in since before you unpacked all of your stuff. His eyes landed to the painting on your desk.

“ _Woah_ , did _you_ paint that?”

You kind of looked down shyly before replying with a simple “yeah.”

“That’s amazing! I mean… _Wow_!” He didn’t want to pick it up cause he saw that it was still wet in certain spots. Then he remembered why he actually came by.

“Oh, right. I came in to see if you had eaten anything. I don’t think I’ve seen you since we all got back this morning.”

“Yeah, I guess I lost track of time while working on this and missed lunch.”

“Well, I’m helping Rhodey cook some steak and chicken, Natasha and Wanda are working on some sides, and Sam is making some sort of surprise for dessert. We usually try to do a large group dinner and watch a movie together on Fridays. Tonight we are watching some movie called “ _The Dark Knight_.” We wanted to see if we should set a plate for you at the table. Nat and I were worried that it might be too much for you so I–”

“I’d like that.”

Steve looked at you with a bit of shock but mostly joy. You had no idea where that came from, you just said it. You wanted to, but you didn’t really think about it.

“ _Really?_ I mean, that’s great! I just didn’t expect that! I’ll go tell the team. Dinner should be ready in about 10 minutes, so head on over whenever you’re ready.” He had a big smile on his face, a bit bigger than his signature Captain America smile. He turned and walked out, shutting the door behind him.

You took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. You turned your music back on and looked at your painting. You could do the finishing touches before having to head to the kitchen. But you were also in your pajamas still. Probably best to change into something a bit more presentable for your first time with everyone.

You settled on a typical outfit that you would wear on a day out. Jeans, black shoes, a black tank top, and an open button-up. It was a quick decision, so you managed to quickly put on some minimal makeup and head out. Simple eyeliner and not dramatic lip color and you were ready to go.

_It’s just dinner. You don’t even have to talk that much. But what if they ask questions? Then you try your best to answer them, dipshit. And then you’re watching a movie afterward. No talking necessary! And if it gets bad, Bucky will be there._

Yeah, Bucky will be there to help. And it’s just dinner and a movie. 

~~~~~~~~

When Steve told the group to set another plate, everyone was a mix of happy and a bit nervous. No one has really had any interaction with you. They knew you weren’t threatening in any way, but they just didn’t know much about you.

After about 5 or so minutes, you made your way to the elevator to go up to the common area floor. When the doors shut and you began to ascend, you started to get more nervous. 

_This is actually happening. They’ll be chill, they won’t pressure you, they won’t be assholes. Just breathe. If you need an out, Bucky will help you, he always does._

The doors opened and you were hit with the sound of music, conversation, and laughter. You took a couple of steps from the elevator and leaned on your crutches, trying to slow your breathing a bit.

Apparently Sam heard the elevator ding when you got there because his head popped out from the kitchen and he smiled at you before turning back to the commotion.

“Hey, guys! (Y/N)’s here!”

You closed your eyes as you heard everyone. _Deep breath. Focus on breathing. Everything will be fine. You’re safe._

Suddenly a hand was on your upper arm. Your eyes shot open and landed on Bucky’s face. He had that warm smile that calmed you but also left some butterflies in your stomach.

“Hey there, doll. You doing okay?” You straightened up and took another breath before responding.

“Yeah. Yeah, I just needed a breath.”

“You know you don’t have to do this, right? You can back out and no one would be offended. I told Steve that this might be too much for you and I was worried that–”

“No. I want to do this. I _need_ to do this. I need to try to be around everyone. You all have been nothing but nice and took me in and I’ve done nothing. It’s gonna be hard, but I have been through worse. I can do this.”

Bucky looked proud of you with a hint of worry. He knew you were strong.

“Alright. I believe you. And if you need help at any point, I’ll be by your side in a second.” He leaned down a bit to kiss your cheek.

“Thank you, Buck.”

“I told you I would always be here for you, sweetheart. Now let’s do this. I can smell it from here.” You flashed him a smile. He walked next to you while you made your way towards the noise. Before you guys reached the kitchen, he stopped you.

“Also, you look really nice. I like that lip color on you.” He threw another smile at you and walked into the room, leaving you blushing a bit before hobbling into the room yourself.

As soon as you came into the kitchen, everyone turned, smiled, and said various greetings. You went to sit at one of the stools by the counter. Bucky leaned down a bit to tell you that he was going to go set the table and see if anyone needed help finishing up the cooking. You nodded your head and said “okay” and watched how easily everyone interacted and worked with each other.

It was such an amazing thing to see them really act like a family. You wanted to be part of this family. As you watched everyone, some auras began growing from people. Wanda had a sort of terra cotta color, Rhodey had a taupe shade, and Clint had a tan color. The rest had little flashes of color but nothing had settled yet.

Natasha saw you observing everyone and asked Wanda to take over the last of the veggies, then made her way towards you. She pointed to the stool next to you as if to ask if she could sit, you nodded yes.

“It’s nice to see you out and about. Try not to worry too much about talking to everyone. As soon as Steve told us that you said yes to tonight, Bucky reminded people to just act normal around each other, but don’t push you too much.”

You looked down and smiled at that. Of course he would do that. You looked back at Natasha. You could see her aura more than earlier. It was such a faint color earlier that you just ignored it. But now you could see a sort of orange with flecks of red. But the red wasn’t bad like the Hydra leader’s. It was a brick red, and it felt so much better than the blood-red of that bastard. You smiled at her and instantly felt a bit more comfortable with her.

“Yeah. I know I need to be more in the group, so this seemed like a good way to just throw myself in there. I have to admit that I thought about turning around, but then Sam saw me and here I am. Just watching you guys has helped calm me down a bit.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here. If anyone goes too far or you are uncomfortable in any way, I have your back, along with Bucky.” She smiled and put a hand on your shoulder. You made a kind of snap decision in your head and talked more.

“Can I say something that might be a bit weird?”

“(Y/N), I’m _sure_ it’s not as weird as some of the stuff I’ve heard people say in the past.” You both chuckle a bit before you continue.

“I know I haven’t talked to you much, but I feel a sort of… Older-sister-younger-sister type thing between us. I don’t want to force that role on you or anything, I was just saying what was on my mind. I’m still getting comfortable with talking this much around new people.”

You kind of let out a chuckle at your own struggle to speak. Natasha smiled pretty big and let out a sort of sigh before responding.

“Honey, that was the opposite of weird. I know how hard it is being a woman in general, then add on the stresses and stuff you’ve been through? I’m so glad that you feel okay around me. I would love to be an older sister figure for you.”

“Hey Nat? Can you come over here and double check these?” Wanda asked from the stove. Nat gave her a nod and then turned her attention back to you.

“For real though, if you ever need me, don’t hesitate. I’m always ready for girl time.” She smiled before giving your shoulder a bit of a squeeze and then heading to help Wanda.

You didn’t notice, but Bucky was watching while he helped Steve with the steak. You looked down at your hands and smiled a bit to yourself. Talking with people was still a struggle, and you knew your thoughts would be a battle tonight, but you’d be lying if you said you weren’t a bit proud of yourself for that conversation. A small smile came on Bucky’s face too. This didn’t go unnoticed by Steve.

“Something on your mind, Buck?”

“Yeah actually. I just saw (Y/N) and Nat together for a few minutes. She’s really doing well. I even heard a couple laughs in there.” He went back to the steaks with the smile still on his face. Steve was glad his friend was happy. He hadn’t seen Bucky this happy for a long time.

“Alright everyone, start heading to the table. After the meats finish up, we’ll be ready to dig in!” Sam announced. Everyone started walking to the long table in the next room over. You grabbed your crutches, but before you could stand, Sam called out to you.

“Hey, (Y/N). What do you want to drink? Everyone else’s drinks are already out there but we didn’t know what you’d want.”

“Uh… I’m fine with just some water. Thank you.” He gave you a nod and an “alright” and then you stood up. As you were headed to the dining room, it was Bucky’s turn to stop you. He put his hand on your arm, a common thing now, and made eye contact.

“I usually sit at the far left end of the table. There should be a seat for you next to me. If not, just wait for me. I’ll be in there in a couple of minutes.”

“Thank you.” You laughed your nerves off. Bucky kissed your temple before heading back to help Steve and Sam finish up. Both of them giving Bucky a sort of look that said: “Alright, I see what’s going on.”

When you were out of earshot, Bucky quickly told Sam what was going on and to just not mention it. Not even joke about it right now. Sam understood.

~~~~~~~~

Everyone was standing and chatting with their drinks in their hands. You made your way to the dining room and looked for the spot Bucky was talking about. Nat was standing nearby the chairs, made eye contact with you, and pointed to a couple of seats at the end. You let out a sigh of relief and hobbled over.

One of the boys in the kitchen called Nat for something with the vegetables, so she went to go save them as you were making your way to the chairs. You decided to take the one all the way at the end because it was easier to get in and out of with your bum ankle. Clint saw you starting to sit down and decided to try to introduce himself.

As you sat in the seat, you were going to try to lean your crutches on the side of the table, but then a hand wrapped around the side of them. You looked up and saw Clint. You knew who he was, but never properly introduced yourself to anyone.

“Here, you want me to put those against the wall for you?” He had his tan-ish aura around him and it grew a bit more vivid.

“That’d be great actually. Thank you.” He was a bit surprised that you actually vocally responded to him. But he didn’t hesitate to help you. Clint placed your crutches against a wall that was behind you and to your left a bit. Then he came back and sat in the chair next to you.

“I don’t think I’ve actually introduced myself. I’m Clint.” He held out his hand and you shook it as you introduced yourself, even though he already knew who you were.

“(Y/N), but I’m pretty sure you knew that.” You chuckled a bit.

“Nice to finally meet you, (Y/N).” He smiled before something caught his attention behind you. Turning around in your seat, you saw the boys and Natasha came in with plates of food, setting them down all along the middle of the table. Sam came around and placed a cup of water in front of you. You thanked him and he smiled in response. His voice rang out like how it did earlier.

“Okay everyone, grab whatever you want. But save some room for dessert!”

~~~~~~~~

You were pretty nervous about dinner, but after a couple of minutes of listening in on the group’s conversations, your nerves minimized. No one put a spotlight on you, no one expected you to do or say anything, and you found yourself enjoying them. You would laugh along with them and really listened to all of their stories.

Cutting into your food and taking a bite, you watched as Steve and Wanda talked about a mission in Germany that some of them had gone on a few months ago.

“Do you remember when we walked through that door and we thought it was going to be a small storage room but ended up being the entrance to the major weapons facility with about 100 trained Hydra guys around?” Wanda asked Steve. He lightly laughed as he recollected the memory.

“I think that was one of the very few times I’ve cursed out loud.” Most of them laughed along with him for a moment, then everyone went back to pretty silent comments and eating. You wanted to know how they ended up getting out alive. 100 guards give or take for only 4 people? It sounded impossible in your mind. Before you could stop yourself, you ended up speaking.

“What happened next?” Everyone stopped and started at you. You felt your nerves kick back up but looked at Steve. He shot a small smile at you. _You can do this. Just talk like you’re talking to Steve. Take a breath._ “In the weapons facility. How did you guys manage to make it back in one piece? That seems impossible.”

“Well, it wasn’t easy, but we’ve faced worse. We tried to fight them off like how we usually do, but then they just kept coming. Then Wanda got an idea.” Steve motioned to Wanda to take over the story. You shifted your eyes to her

“Yeah. I figured _‘hey, we’re in a room full of weapons, why not use them?’_ And it helped wipe out a lot of them. There was this one gun type of thing that literally went through a line of about 15 men at one time. I only got two uses out of it before it crapped out on me though. But by then, Steve and Sam had taken out a lot more, so we went back to fighting like usual and came out with only some cuts and bruises.” Wanda was kind of proud of herself. She also made sure to focus her retelling directly to you, hoping it would make it feel like a one-on-one conversation instead of a large group thing. It ended up making you feel a bit better.

You weren’t really sure what to say in response so you just nodded your head and went back to eating. You could feel multiple pairs of eyes on you and your breathing became a bit strained. _Just focus on the food. Drink some water. You’re safe._

Bucky had been keeping an eye on you, he saw that you were struggling a bit. His hand found yours underneath the table. You didn’t flinch or anything, you just let it happen. It helped calm you down. You wanted to grab his hand earlier but held yourself back.

Steve looked at Bucky as if to ask if you were okay or if you needed help, Bucky nodded and Steve took that as a sign to keep the conversation going like normal.

“So what’s the movie we are watching tonight?” Steve asked Rhodey since he won the debate earlier and got his movie choice picked.

Rhodey was obviously excited about the movie, and so were a lot of the others. Steve, Bucky, and Wanda hadn’t seen it yet. You actually had the trilogy on DVD and loved it. It was one of your go-to movies for when you felt down. So you were pretty hyped too.

You were thinking of all of the DVDs you had in your room when you heard your name.

“Have you seen _The Dark Knight_ , (Y/N)?” Clint was the one that asked you.

“Yeah. I actually have it in my movie collection. It’s one of my favorites.”

“ _Movie Collection_? Sounds like we’ll have to try to find a movie that you haven’t seen.” Clint joked around but you could tell that he was kind of serious. You smiled a bit.

“That’ll be pretty challenging. I’ve seen a _lot_ of films.” You expected everyone to just laugh it off. And they laughed a bit, but then Rhodey spoke up.

“Challenge accepted then.” He smiled and laughed. You smiled with him and then took a sip of water.

Bucky was still holding your hand because he had finished eating and was waiting for everyone else to finish. Only he and Steve were done, everyone else was pretty close to being done though.

Conversation went back to normal and you stayed quiet for a few minutes. Only a couple of people were still on their last few bites when Steve decided to ask you a question.

“Hey (Y/N)? Can I ask you a question about your powers?” You were kind of taken by surprise, so it took a second or two to react. You saw Bucky shift a little in his seat next to you. He was worried, and he told them not to put you on the spot. But you gave Bucky an okay look and he loosened up a bit.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” It was evident that you were a bit nervous, but you knew this would happen. You just tried to remember that this would end up being better for you in the long run.

“We saw your sort of telekinesis ability, but Banner mentioned something about auras? What are those?”

You knew you would have to explain this to them at some point, but you didn’t expect it to be now. _How the fuck do I even begin to explain this?_ Eyes were on you again. You felt Bucky tighten his grip on your hand a little and shoot you an encouraging look. _Deep breath, and just fucking go for it._

“They uh... They’re these sort of backdrops of colors that I can see behind people when I get to know them. The colors represent different things that I usually find out as I talk to the person more. I can read some people super quickly and not have to talk to them, others take time to interpret. Sometimes they are multi-colored, which makes it a bit confusing. It’s kind of like a personal radar system.”

“Would you be okay telling us a bit about _our_ auras?” Natasha chimed in. You looked up and saw that she, along with everyone else, was interested in what you had to say.

“Well, not everyone has one right now. And sometimes some people just don’t ever get one. I’ve learned that that isn’t a bad thing. It just means that I don’t really need a read on them. And I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, but I can try my best to describe anyone who wants me to.”

Everyone sat in silence for a minute, exchanging glances. Some of curiosity, some that said: “sure, why not?” But it was silent until Steve spoke up.

“Alright, I’ll be the first to ask then.” Thank god his was easy to read. You were able to breathe a bit easier since his was simple to you.

“Well, not to be stereotypical, but it’s mainly a navy blue color.” Everyone laughed at that. _Very_ typical “It also has little pieces of ivory in it. The blue can mean a lot of things. Positivity, classic, strong, safe, loyal. And the ivory kind of complements and emphasizes those characteristics.”

Steve smiled at you and you could tell that he thought it was amusing. You ended up talking about a few more people’s auras before you looked at Bucky. Your look was a kind of tired and pleading look. He knew exactly what you were thinking.

“While this color telling is interesting, it’s gonna get late before we even start the movie. And if it’s anything like the one we watched last week, I’m gonna need to be awake for it.” Bucky knew just how to move the conversation along and shift the focus. You gave him a smile and mouthed the words “thank you.”

Everyone began gathering their dishes and heading back to the kitchen to quickly clean them and get ready for the movie. Steve took yours and Bucky’s dishes. You both thanked him before he walked out.

“Thanks again for saving me. I wasn’t expecting everyone to be so interested and want me to talk that much. And it was nice, but it was a lot.” Bucky went to get your crutches from the wall while you used the chairs to stabilize yourself as you stood up.

“Of course, doll. It really was cool to hear how accurate everyone’s auras are.” You just smiled as he positioned the crutches. “You going to be okay for the movie? You can call it an early night if you need to.”

“I should be okay. It’s a good movie and there isn’t as much talking involved as there was at dinner.”

You expected Bucky to put his hand on your arm as usual, but this time he placed his hand against your cheek. You felt yourself lean into it a bit. He rubbed his thumb across your cheek a few times before he kissed your forehead. His hand dropped when a voice came from the living room.

“Bucky! (Y/N)! You guys coming?” You heard Rhodey shout from the other room. Apparently they were already getting the movie set up.

“Yeah! We’ll be there in a second!” Bucky yelled back. Then he turned back to you. You put on a small smile and poked him.

“Well, let’s head over. I think you’ll like this movie. It’s better than the first one.”


	8. "Cautious" - Part 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Key: Y/N = Your Name, L/N = Your Last Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color
> 
> Warnings: Cursing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! While this is one of my earlier fics and my writing style has grown and evolved a lot since 2017, feedback is always appreciated!
> 
> -  
> DreaSaurusREX

You told Bucky that you were going to be fine during the movie, but you actually weren’t too sure about that. Even though there isn’t a lot of talking to each other while watching movies, there was still a weird pressure to try to be calm.

As you and Bucky were heading to the living room, you stopped and looked at the elevator. You needed a couple of minutes to yourself. Just a few. And you knew how you could get them.

“Hey, Bucky? Would everyone mind waiting for another 5 or so minutes?” He turned and looked a bit worried before responding.

“Yeah, of course. You okay, sweetheart?”

“I think so. I just wanted to change into pajamas for the movie. Jeans aren’t the most comfortable movie watching clothes.”

“Okay. Yeah, I’ll tell them to wait a bit. Just… Let me know if you need me. I’ll have my phone on me and be at your door in a heartbeat.” He flashed you a smile that said he was happy, but his eyes still had worry written all over them. You thanked him, grabbed his hand, and gave it a squeeze before heading to the elevator.

You got into your room and found a clean pair of leggings and a tank top. Sitting on your bed, your thoughts took over.

_Why are you like this? Dinner was fine. You talked and didn’t freak out. The movie is going to be 10 times easier. It’s just fuckin sitting there and watching a movie you’ve seen a million times. Just be by Bucky and you’ll be fine._

Taking a deep breath in, you stood up to grab your crutches and head out, but something caught your eye. A gray hoodie on the edge of your bed. Bucky’s hoodie. Without thinking too much, you grabbed it and slipped it on over your head. The scent filled your nose and you felt calmer. You grabbed your phone and made your way back to the elevator.

~~~~~~~~

The elevator doors opened and you saw Steve and Bucky talking in the hallway. _I guess they were waiting for me._ They both were laughing a bit and you saw Bucky so incredibly calm. It was nice to see him like this.

They must have heard the elevator ding because both of their attentions were turned towards you, smiles still on their faces. Bucky met you halfway and kissed your head, this made you smile. Steve just gave a smirk before calling out to you two.

“I’m gonna get the last of the drinks. You guys want anything?”

“Grab me a beer. Whatever one you gave me before dinner.” Bucky said over his shoulder. He turned back to you and opened his mouth to ask you what you wanted, but you cut him off.

“I’ll have some water. Thanks, Steve.” Your voice was a somewhat normal volume, which was surprising to Bucky and Steve as well as yourself. You really _were_ getting better. Bucky just looked at you with a wide smile. He was proud of you. Steve smiled and turned to go back to the kitchen.

“Let’s go claim a spot on the couch. Also, nice hoodie.” Bucky had that kinda playful smirk on his face as you lightly hit his arm before you both made your way to the living room.

There were plenty of couches and seats for everyone. You and Bucky decided on a small two seater off to the side a bit. Bucky went to go get something from the kitchen. You went to go put your crutches against the wall when Clint saw you. He got kind of freaked because he didn’t want you to put any weight on your ankle.

“ _Woah_ there, (Y/N)! Careful!”

“I’m fine. I found out earlier that I can put a little weight on it. And the couch isn’t that far.” Clint looked at you, he obviously wasn’t going to just let you go. He held out his arm and looked at you.

“Rather be safe than sorry.”

You kind of laughed at that, but took his arm anyways. To be honest, it felt better to be able to lean on him instead of trying to limp on your own. He made sure he had a good grip on you before walking. You trusted him. You hadn’t known him for that long, but you felt as comfortable around him as you did with Steve or Natasha.

Bucky came back in the living room with his beer and a water bottle for you when he saw you and Clint. You didn’t notice him come back in, you were too focused on not tripping. He saw how okay you were with Clint. You really were trying to get closer to everyone, and it was working. Bucky just watched until you safely got to the couch.

Clint made sure you were okay, asked it you needed anything, then proceeded to move a small coffee table with a pillow on it in front of you. You gave him a sort of confused look.

“You need to elevate your ankle. Even if it’s a small elevation, it’ll help. Come on. Foot up.” He patted the pillow before waiting for you to move. You 100% saw his father side come out. His wife and kids were lucky to have him if he was this fantastic around the team.

Laughing a bit, you didn’t argue. You just lifted your leg and got comfortable. He checked again if you needed anything.

“I’m fine, Clint. Thank you. I really appreciate your help.” He just smiled and patted your shoulder before heading back to whatever he was doing before. Bucky came up from behind you and startled you by leaning against the back of the couch and kissing your temple.

“That was good progress. Proud of you, doll.” You smiled and let out a bit of a sigh before responding.

“Yeah, I didn’t think I would get this far.” Bucky took his seat next to you as everyone else found their seats and got comfy.

_You’ve seen this movie plenty of times. There isn’t anything to worry about._

Then Sam turned out the lights and Rhodey pressed play.

~~~~~~~~

You were fine through the beginning of the movie. There was one part where a jumpscare always got you. It’s when a fake Batman hits the window of a politician’s office. You totally forgot about it and ended up jumping pretty big at it. Bucky kind of chuckled and pulled you closer to him.

“I gotcha, doll.” He whispered as he put his arm around you. You took out your phone, opened it to the notes section and types out something to him.

_“Would everyone be okay with us like this?”_ You handed him your phone, he read it, and typed back.

_“I don’t see why they wouldn’t be. But it’s your call.”_

You really wanted to relax with him. If Bucky doesn’t see a problem, then why should you?

Without thinking too much more, you leaned back against him. His flesh arm was around you. He made sure you were comfy before turning his attention back up to the movie. His eyes met with Steve’s before hitting the tv. Steve had been apparently watching this whole interaction. He just sat there and smiled at his best friend. He had never seen Bucky like this before. There was something different about you, and he approved.

About halfway through the movie, you felt something change in you. Your thoughts began to run a bit out of control, and your breathing became a bit strained.

_What the fuck? Just breathe. Why here? Can I leave and come back?_

Leaving right now would draw attention, and that would make it worse. Even if you wanted to leave, your crutches were against the wall, so there was no subtle way out.

_There’s no way out. Not without having everyone watch you. All of your progress will be for nothing. Just focus on the movie._

You began to panic a bit more, but tried to watch the movie.

Bucky could tell something was wrong. He didn’t know what exactly, but something wasn’t right. He sat up a bit more and tried to get a good look at your face. You looked like you were watching, but you weren’t all there. He kept his flesh arm around you and put his metal hand on your arm. The coolness of the vibranium took you by surprise. He leaned down and whispered in your ear.

“I know you want to make it through tonight. Just focus on breathing. You made it through dinner, you can make it through this. And I’m here to help you if you need it, sweetheart.” He placed a kiss on the side of you head. You nodded your head up and down to show you agree with him. The light from the tv flashed off of his arm and caught your attention.

You took his hand and brought it closer to you. Seeing the lights from the movie reflect and stretch off of the vibranium took your focus from your scrambled thoughts to this simple thing. Seeing all of the different grooves and ridges in each section of his arm was weirdly calming. You had never really looked at his arm and how complex it was.

Buck just watched you. He let you move his hand and fingers to observe how they moved. He felt your breathing slow and you seemed to calm down a lot more in a matter of minutes. It was strange to him. Something that caused him so much pain and insecurity was something you found intriguing and soothing.

Steve saw this interaction and nudged Natasha, who was sitting next to him. They exchanged smiles before Nat took out her phone and took a short video. She sent it Bruce with a caption of how you were doing.

_“(Y/N) is doing better than expected. She talked to me and a couple of others one-on-one, talked to everyone about the auras thing at dinner. I think she started to feel uneasy during the movie, but Bucky’s helping. I have a feeling that they’ll be an item soon enough. See for yourself.”_

Steve just watched the two of you. He knew how much Bucky didn’t like his arm, but seeing how you reacted to it must have changed something in him. He was letting you close. He was taking care of you. _Bucky was in love._ He threw a smile at Bucky before going back to the movie, even though he knew he wasn’t going to look this way. Bucky was too focused on getting you back to a manageable state.

~~~~~~~~

It was nearing the end of the movie and you felt the need to do something. You had successfully calmed down enough to go back to enjoying the movie and relaxing with Bucky. You wanted to do something out of your comfort zone, but you knew you would have trouble on your own. You pulled out your phone and began typing a message to Bucky in your notes section. Both of you conversed for a couple of minutes like this.

_(Y/N): So, crazy idea time. I want to talk to everyone. Not like how it was at dinner. I was just answering questions then. I want to start the conversation. Okay, well, not really a conversation. I want to thank everyone for including me tonight._

_Bucky: That’d be wonderful, doll. If something happens or you need me, I’ll be right next to you._

_(Y/N) : Can you just make sure everyone stays for a couple of minutes after the movie ends? I know my voice isn’t loud enough to get everyone’s attention yet._

_Bucky: Yes ma’am._

The movie is very close to the end, and you felt your nerves working up more and more. Bucky had snuck his phone out and texted Natasha.

_Bucky : (Y/N) wants to speak to everyone after the movie. You’re gonna wanna send this to Banner._

_Natasha: I’ll be ready._

_Bucky: Don’t make it obvious though. That’ll make her even more nervous._

_Natasha: I’ve already taken a video and some pictures of you two without anyone noticing, I think I got this._

He looked up at Nat when he read that, she had a smirk on her face before she sent the video and pictures to him. The pictures were candid shots of the two of you cuddling, watching the movie and you playing with this arm. He smiled at them. He won’t show you these right now. Maybe later.

~~~~~~~~

The credits started rolling and you felt Bucky’s hand squeeze yours. He asked if you were ready and you nodded yes.

Everyone was chatting about the movie when Bucky stood up. Natasha got her phone out and casually hit record. Steve gave her a look but she just returned with an “I got this” look.

“Hey, guys? Can you all sit for a minute or two?” Everyone got quiet and turned towards you guys. Bucky helped you stand up before taking his seat again. You felt yourself shaking a little bit while you balanced yourself on two feet. Taking a deep breath in, you spoke.

“I know a lot of you are tired, so I’ll keep this short. I just wanted to thank you guys for including me tonight, be patient with me, and just taking me into this family of yours. I still have a lot of work to do, but dinner and the movie tonight has helped me get closer to a lot of you and feel more comfortable. So thanks again, you guys.”

Your hands were shaking as everyone began talking again. A lot of them saying supportive stuff before turning back to their previous conversations. Bucky stood up and pulled you into a hug. You gladly wrapped your arms around his neck and hugged back.

“You’re shaking like a leaf, sweetheart.” He joked. You playfully hit his back and laughed with him. He kissed your cheek before pulling away and taking your hand in his. Before he could say anything else, Natasha tapped on your shoulder. You turned to face her.

“That was _pretty_ impressive, (Y/N)! I know that must have been difficult for you.” She gently pulled you into a hug. You both take a few steps away from the boys so she could talk to you. “Also, whenever we have a girls night, you’re going to have to tell me what’s going on between you and Bucky. I saw you to getting comfy, and the way he looks at you, it’s _obvious_ that he feels something towards you.”

Blushing, you two talked for a little bit more before Clint came over. He hugged you as well and the three of you talked. Steve made his way over to Bucky.

“Did you tell her to do that?” He asked.

“No. She did it all on her own. All I did was get everyone’s attention.” He smiled as he watched you interact with the different team members. But it isn’t long until you are making your way back to Bucky. Clint had you on his arm until you two were in front of Bucky and Steve, then he hugged you one more time before heading back to Natasha.

It was Steve’s turn for a hug. He didn’t squeeze tight, but the love was still there. He kissed your head like an older brother before talking.

“I’ll go grab your crutches.” He flashed his stereotypical smile and went to grab the crutches from the wall. Bucky is about to say something when Sam calls him over.

“Go on. Be with friends. I’ll be fine.” You two exchanged smiles before he kissed your cheek and headed to Sam and Rhodey. They probably wanted to know how he liked the movie.

Steve came back with your crutches and helped you get adjusted.

“You need anything else, (Y/N)?” He had his hand on your shoulder.

“No. I think I’m good. I’m going to head to bed. I’m pretty tired.”

“Alright. Rest easy, (Y/N). See you tomorrow.” He gave your shoulder a squeeze before going to Clint and Nat. You made your way out of the living room and to the elevator. Bucky was enjoying a conversation with Sam and Rhodey, and didn’t even see you walk past.

A couple minutes later, he looked around for you. He found Steve instead and asked him since he was the last one to talk to you.

“Oh, she headed up to her room. She said she was tired.” Bucky was a bit worried about you being alone after such an eventful night.

“Alright. I’m gonna go check up on her. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Steve smiled at Bucky and patted his shoulder.

“See ya, Buck. Take good care of her.”

~~~~~~~~

Bucky made his way to your room. He opened the door and saw you sitting against the wall. He instantly got worried. He had your face in his hands, you could see how worried he was.

“Hey! You okay? What’s wrong?” You laughed a bit and put your hands on his instead. This was not the reaction he expected.

“I’m fine. Just wanted to sit on the floor and calm down a bit. I was so nervous doing that, and the reaction from everyone was so chill and nice. I’m just calming down. I’m okay, _I promise_.”

You see his worry fade and he sits next to you on the floor. He drapes his arm around your shoulders and pulls you close to him. Another kiss on your temple. He seemed to do that a lot, but you weren’t going to complain. That being said, you kind of wanted a real kiss, but how?

“I didn’t get to say this earlier, but I'm really proud of you, (Y/N). You did so much more than I thought you would tonight. You were amazing.” You smile very big, leaned your head against his shoulder and relaxed even more. He took your hand in his and intertwined your fingers together.

“Bucky? Did you tell anyone about us potentially being a thing?” You already knew the answer to that, but it was a more of a conversation starter.

“Steve. And Sam asked after he saw me kiss your forehead before dinner. But I’m pretty sure everyone put two and two together during the movie. If you’re not okay with it, I can try to talk to everyone.” He was suddenly a bit nervous as to what you’d say.

“No. I think they’ll be accepting. I just… I brought it up cause I… After tonight, and the past few days of being close to you, and all of the hand holding and small kisses, I was wondering if we could..” You struggled to find the right words.

Bucky chuckled a bit before pulling your face closer to his and kissing you softly. You were adorable when you were flustered. He’d been wanting to do this all day but knew to respect your boundaries. You kissed back a bit more and you both smiled into the kiss. You broke it off and took a deep breath in. You both were smiling wide as you held each other in your arms. Then Bucky picked you up bridal style.

“Bucky! What the hell?!” You laughed a bit at the sudden gesture. He stood in the center of your room and smiled at you.

“Well, you need to get some sleep. I’m just helping you get to your bed.” He placed you on your bed and leaned your crutches against the wall nearby. You grabbed his hand and stopped him from going anywhere.

“Can you stay with me? I’m scared something bad is going to happen.” You weren’t lying. Last time you had a good night, you had a nightmare. You didn’t want that to happen, and you certainly didn’t want anyone else to hear you if you do have one.

Buck would stay with you every night that you wanted him to. He looked down and saw the honest glimmer of fear in your eyes. It just made him want to stay even more.

“Of course I will, doll. Let me just go change and grab some water, then I’ll be right back.” He leaned down to kiss your cheek. You smiled and laughed.

“You missed.” You told him. He looked at you a bit confused.

“What?”

“I said, _you missed_.” It suddenly clicked and he leaned down again, but this time he kissed you on the lips. It was short and sweet. He pulled away and kind of whispered to you.

“I’ll be back with more of those, and I won’t miss.” You both smile as he goes to get changed. You lay back on your bed and think of what a crazy day it’s been. Then another thought hits you:

_How the hell am I gonna tell Bruce?_


	9. "Cautious" - Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Key: Y/N = Your Name, L/N = Your Last Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color
> 
> Warnings: None that I can tell other than fluffy times

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! While this is one of my earlier fics and my writing style has grown and evolved a lot since 2017, feedback is always appreciated!
> 
> -  
> DreaSaurusREX

There was a sliver of light that crept through the window blinds that woke you up. You slowly opened your eyes and tried to stretch when you felt a pair of strong arms wrapped around your torso. Looking down, you saw a familiar silver arm draped around your stomach, and smiled to yourself while you recollected what happened yesterday. The last time you had slept this good was before the whole Hydra abduction.

By the time Bucky had come back to your room last night, you were half asleep. He had been stopped by Steve to talk for a few minutes. But when he did finally make his way to your room, you both were so tired that you just cuddled and watched some YouTube videos until you fell asleep. You both did steal some kisses here and there, but it a mostly chill night after dinner and the movie.

You slowly freed your arm and reached for your phone to see what time it was. 9:30AM. It was a Saturday, most people’s relaxing day or catch up day. Minimal training, mission reports, et cetera. This is also the day of the week some of the team catches up on sleep.

You checked your phone and then tried to fall back asleep but couldn’t, so you lightly turned around in Bucky’s arms to try to cuddle more. Bucky seemed sound asleep. Slowly, his hold of you got a bit tighter as he pulled you closer, there was nothing to complain about though. Being in his arms, feeling so safe and content, and just being with him made you beyond happy. You couldn’t tell if he was still asleep or not.

You gently pushed a few stray hairs away from his face. He looked so peaceful. Then you saw him slowly start to wake up.

“Sorry! I was trying not to wake you up.” You began to apologize as soon as you could. He just chuckled and pulled you closer, even though you thought that wasn’t possible. You felt his chuckle go through his chest.

“It’s fine. I’ve been awake for a few minutes. I just didn’t want to move.” You giggle at this and try to pull away so you could go get ready for the day, but he pulls you back. “Couple more minutes.”

“Bucky, we gotta get up or else Steve is gonna use the last of the eggs.” He just groaned as he nuzzled his head into your neck. You just laughed at his childlike response, but complied. “ _Fine._ I’m setting a timer for 10 minutes. Then we _have_ to get up.” He lifted his head and kissed your cheek before cuddling back up to you. You ran your hands through his hair while you laid back and closed your eyes and Bucky lazily traced patterns along your side and stomach. You felt completely relaxed.

“You are making it difficult to not go back to sleep.” You say as a sort of joke. Then you feel Bucky leaving a trail of kisses on your neck. You kind of gasped lightly and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy them very much. This didn’t go unnoticed by Bucky as he chuckled a little while he kept going. He made his trail go all the way up to your lips, and you gladly kissed back. Things didn’t get too heated between you two, mostly because you both weren’t fully awake. That didn’t stop you guys though.

You hadn’t realized how much time passed until you heard your phone go off. You reached to turn it off and then came back to Bucky who was smiling.

“So how was that for a wake-up call?” You playfully hit his shoulder before sitting up on the edge of your bed. You stood up and tried to put a little bit of pressure on your ankle. You could put more on it than the other day and didn’t necessarily need to grab onto anything to stabilize yourself, but it was still kinda painful. You slowly made your way to your closet to figure out what you were going to wear today while Bucky took his time in getting up. It wasn’t until he was sitting upright that he realized you weren’t using your crutches and kind of freaked out. He came up behind you and held your waist.

“What are you doing without your crutches or anything? You could get hurt.” It was cute when he got worried like this. You just smiled and turned to face him.

“I’m _fine_. I can put a bit more pressure on it today and if I really need to, I can balance myself with my powers.” He was still a bit hesitant to let you go, but you put your hands on his and helped him let go while you kissed him.

“If you say so. I’m gonna go make us some breakfast, hopefully, Steve didn’t use the last of the eggs. You _sure_ you’re okay?”

“I _promise_. And we will see for sure how well my ankle is after I have my check-up with Bruce today.” Then it hit you. You had a meeting with Bruce to take x-rays and see how much longer you’d need to be on crutches. You had to tell him about you and Bucky.

~~~~~~~~

Breakfast was pretty normal. It was just you, Bucky, Steve, and Sam. Everyone else was working or sleeping. You texted Bruce to see if he was awake and what time you should stop by the lab. He told you to come by at around noon. It was already 11 o’clock. _How the hell am I going to tell Bruce about all this?_

You chatted with the boys and helped do the dishes to try to get your mind off of it. It worked until you finished and saw that it was 11:45 and you had to head to the lab in a few minutes. You pulled Bucky to the side and asked what he thought you should say.

“Well, he already knows about us having an interest in each other. And he already talked to both of us about how he approves of it. So the tough part is out of the way, right?” You hadn’t really thought about that, but hearing it, you thought and were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, I just.. I guess I’m still a bit unsure of what to call _this_.” Bucky was confused but then realized that you both hadn’t really defined if you were boyfriend/girlfriend or not.

“Well, if you want to tell Banner the truth, tell him that we haven’t made anything official because I want to take you on a proper date first.” He was looking down as if he was a bit nervous.

“Oh really?” You smiled at him as he met your gaze and he smiled back.

“Yes, ma’am. If we are doing this, I want to do it properly and I want to make sure that you are happy every step of the way.” You couldn’t help the smile that was growing bigger and bigger on your face. _How did I get so lucky to have this perfect man?_

He leaned down and kissed your cheek, not wanting to make you uncomfortable since Steve and Sam were only a few feet away.

“You better head to Banner. Let me know how it goes. I’ll probably be training with Steve or Natasha.” You nod your head and grab your crutches.

~~~~~~~~  
Tony was in his office making some calls, so the lab was very quiet. When you put Bruce and Tony together, it was usually noisy and talkative, but when it was just Bruce, it was very serene. You walked in and saw him writing something down in a notebook of sorts. He heard the door open, looked up, and smiled.

“Hey there, kiddo! How are you feeling?” He pulled you into a quick hug.

“I’m actually doing pretty okay. I wanted to take a look at my ankle to see how much longer I’ll need crutches. I was able to walk a little bit today. It hurt, but not as bad as it did a couple of days ago.”

“Alright, we’ll get some Xrays and see. Even if it looks healed enough, I’m probably going to have you on crutches or at least one crutch for a bit longer. I’d rather be safe than sorry.” You nodded and lifted yourself onto the table using your friendly invisible cubes. You hadn’t used your power in a day or two and felt a bit rusty, but got yourself on the table successfully.

After a couple of minutes of x-rays and other various scans, you two were just waiting for the results to come through. Bruce hadn’t eaten much, so he had a bowl of fruit and some waters for you two to pick at. _I guess this is as good a time as any…_

“I’m just going to say something that has been on my mind and I think you deserve to know. You are like a father to me since I’ve been here, so I feel like I should let you in on my personal life since I don’t really have anyone to give me advice or anything.” You paused to let Bruce give you an okay or stop you. He just nodded and motioned his hand for you to continue as he popped a couple of blueberries in his mouth.

“I know I told you about how Bucky and I are interested in each other. I just wanted to kind of update you–”

“You two are a thing now, I’m guessing.” Bruce interrupted you. You were kind of taken aback. He continued. “Natasha sent me a couple of short videos last night. One of you and Bucky laying down together, you were kind of focused on his arm. And the other was of you speaking to everyone.” _I am so going to kill Natasha._ A bit embarrassed, you felt a blush rise on your cheeks.

“I was focused on his hand because I felt an attack coming and it helped ground me and calm me back down.” Bruce just nodded before he spoke.

“I will say, I am impressed and proud of how much you did yesterday. I thought it’d be overstimulation, but it seemed to go pretty well. With the help of Bucky.” You nodded in agreement. There was a slight pause in the conversation before you spoke up.

“Bucky and I aren’t really officially together. He said he wants to take me on a ‘proper date’ and do things right to make this work.” Bruce had a small smile on his face.

“(Y/N), you and Bucky have my approval. I already warned him of what would happen if he did anything to hurt you, and I trust you. You know you have me as support. Bucky is a good man. I think the two of you are perfect for each other.”

You couldn’t find any words at that moment. You knew Bruce was really a great father figure to you. You were so thankful. He knew you wanted to hug but was still processing everything that he had said, so he stood and wrapped his arms around you.

The two of you stayed like that for a few seconds until the computer beeped. Your x-rays were done processing. Bruce looked them over for a minute before bringing them to you. He also had a copy of your x-rays from when you first came to the tower after being rescued.

“Well, your ankle is definitely doing _better_ , but I do want you to have one crutch if not both. You can see that the fracture has healed more than the first round of x-rays. I would say that you probably have another month or two before you can do full-body training.” That lazy part caught you off guard.

“Training? You mean I’m actually going to be part of the team?!” You got excited but also had a twinge of nervousness. Bruce put down the x-rays and looked at you.

“I think you’d be a great new addition that could benefit the team during missions. Your whole invisible cube thing could mimic what Wanda does, which means we have two means of telepathy. And your ability to see auras could help during interrogations. If the team didn’t say yes to you joining, it would be a really stupid decision. Well, after you’ve gone through training and passed their tests.”

You just sat there and smiled. 

_Me. Actually part of the Avengers. Out helping the world. You grabbed a piece of melon and took a bite while Bruce went to grab a new type of crutch for you to use. How the hell did I get lucky enough to be accepted into this family, have a wonderful man, and now be an actual member of the Avengers?_

Instead of the traditional crutches, you were now going to be using only one of a newer style. The ones that kind of hooked around your arm and had one grip for you to hold and lean on. 

Bruce had you practice using this new crutch to make sure you were comfortable with it and there wouldn’t be any problems. It only took a couple of minutes to get used to it. You got some medication from Bruce, hugged him, then headed to the elevator. Once in the elevator, you texted Bucky.

~~~~~~~~

Bucky and Steve had been doing some hand combat training for about 45 minutes straight. They both decided to take a quick 5-minute break. (Even super soldiers need a break every so often.) They grabbed their water bottles and Bucky grabbed his phone out of his bag. He saw that you texted him 10 minutes ago.

_(Y/N): Hey! Just left the lab. Ankle is doing good. Got a new crutch. I know you’re training, so you finish up, shower, and then we can hang out or relax. I’m going to be in my room probably watching tv. No rush. <3_

_(Y/N): Oh! And Bruce gave us his blessing. When did you want to have that date?_


End file.
